Balenciaga.
Identity is what ultimately defines a brand and its essence — and Pierpaolo Piccioli knows exactly what that means after his years at Valentino, where colour, couture and an unabashed sense of romance became inseparable from his vision. After only a year at the helm of Balenciaga, the Creative Director has been carefully investigating where his vision sits: closer to Cristóbal’s sculptural couture legacy, or the commercially potent language of Demna’s streetwear era. His answer came in the form of a collection that refuses to pick a side, instead pulling the two histories into Piccioli’s own vocabulary through extraordinary volumes, expressive colour and couture techniques applied to everyday clothes.
‘Les Coraux de la Liberté’ by French textile artist Aude Franjou stood in the middle of the runway, echoing that idea in three dimensions. The wrapped-linen sculpture, inspired by marine coral, was chosen as an image of both natural and human ecosystems, mirroring the ways in which organic structures can inform modern pattern cutting.
Balenciaga.
Balenciaga.
Spring/Summer 2027 was full of animation and free shapes. Airy fabrics floated around oversized silhouettes, enormous trousers gave the lower half of the body a new scale and dresses seemed almost to inflate as they walked, recalling Cristóbal’s sense of volume. Piccioli’s instinct for colour came through in saturated purples, electric blues, vivid oranges and accents of magentas set against stretches of white, beige and black. Colour-blocking — one of the signatures most closely associated with his Valentino years — returned with plenty of confidence.
The cleverest clothes were those where the couture methodology was almost hidden in plain sight. A humble white shirt emerged with a sculpted peplum created through rows of stitching; denim was cut on the bias; T-shirts acquired sculptural proportions. Piccioli has described the aim as bringing couture into the daily wardrobe, taking the techniques traditionally reserved for exceptional clothes and applying them to garments as familiar as jeans and shirts.
There was also a lot for the eye to linger over. Structured decorations gathered around the hems of dresses or expanded into oversized collars, while laser-cut surfaces and Calais lace opened sections of the body without making the clothes feel overly ornamental. Some of the most striking silhouettes were almost entirely about what happened at their edges: petals, architectural flounces and extended fabric trails changed the outline of a garment as it moved.
Balenciaga.
Balenciaga.
Accessories added another layer of attitude: thick Bow Mask sunglasses gave the faces a slightly futuristic severity, substantial boots anchored the more inflated proportions, and long cummerbund-like extensions wrapped around waists before falling down the legs. Even the bags — supple Nodo and Silhou styles — were treated as objects shaped by hand, while softer footwear marked a noticeable departure from the chunkier shoes associated with the house in recent years.
The finale belonged to Anok Yai, who closed the show in a hugely voluminous, ultra-sheer pink dress that bounced and floated around her as she walked, transforming the final look into a study in fabric, air and movement.
For Piccioli, couture is “a laboratory of possibilities”, and this season those possibilities were allowed to stretch considerably.
Discover the Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2027 collection here.
photography. courtesy of Balenciaga
words. Gennaro Costanzo
