A New Balenciaga, Made With Love & Old Balenciaga
In the season of sizzling-hot debuts, Pierpaolo Piccioli gets his turn to present the new Balenciaga, from the heart.
The show invitation included a cassette tape that played a heartbeat, setting the tone for a collection that essentially captures the soul of Balenciaga.
The use of color, dramatic shapes, and sleek textures in the Balenciaga Summer 2026 collection certainly evokes memories of Picciolo's Valentino era. However, these are also deep references to the Balenciaga archive, specifically codes established by its founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga.
Ahead of the presentation, Balenciaga's Instagram gave a taste of what's to come from the designer's debut. That included a 1967 photo of a silk wedding dress and a matching hat by Cristóbal Balenciaga, confirming the archives as a substantial point of inspiration.
But Piccioli didn't just pay homage to the great Cristóbal; he also showed love to the creative directors who came before him, including Demna who is now Gucci's creative director.
Large alien-level sunglasses and sharp point-toe heels oozed of Demna's larger-than-life, streetwear-ish edge, married with the Piccioli's modern POV.
Piccioli, who was named creative director in May, even appeared in his signature all-black 'fit, paired with those thick 3XL sneakers from Demna's era during the show.
The new Balenciaga also brought a different crowd, which included fresh albeit familiar faces like PinkPantheress and Meghan Markle (!!!) at the presentation.
And as Lauryn Hill's "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" carried us through the SS26 finale, all eyes indeed fell on the new Balenciaga, which is really a marriage of both old and New Balenciaga with sprinkles of loves.
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