For all of the things Balenciaga is, it is foremost, a couture house. Such is Pierpaolo Piccioli as a designer—a couturier. 25 years at Valentino will get a person very good at understanding the language of couture, a skill Piccioli displayed at his couture debut for Balenciaga earlier this year. Only couture is over for the year and ready-to-wear is in, so what does couture have to do with his Spring/Summer 2027 collection?
This season marks a full turn of Piccioli at Balenciaga. He is officially one year in, and it feels as though we are getting somewhere in his delivery. For many, Balenciaga is associated with the post-ironic, subversive silhouette of Demna. But Balenciaga—Cristobal's Balenciaga—has always captured a sense of purity through couture, and here, for Spring/Summer 2027 we saw this purity expressed against an almost cavernous white set in Paris today.
Balenciaga SS27 // Balenciaga
Balenciaga SS27 // BalenciagaThe first nine exits were white and ivory, another gesture of purity as Piccioli redefines the language of Balenciaga, as if to offer the house a clean slate this season. The body as the basis is both Monsieur Balenciaga's philosophy and one that Piccioli has been strictly guided by throughout his career, and here we saw it unfold via peplum shapes and architectural lines: high collars and oversized sleeves and ballooning cargo pants. There were still notes of Demna, in enlarged distressed denim jeans and wrap around sunglasses. Mostly, it felt like a reference to both past and future.
Balenciaga SS27 // Balenciaga
Balenciaga SS27 // Balenciaga
There were even some Ghesquiere-esque moments in there, namely the sheer calais lace dresses in black and nude that hark back to his pre-demna tenure at the house, alongside some Piccioli signatures—a crisp pink cotton button down with a feather-like collar, a simple white t-shirt done up well with a peplum, bursts of lime, hot pink, coral and billowing crepe de chine and chiffon. A clear champion was an impossibly simple black silk mini dress with a racer back and a train that tied together in the back, and the cummerbunds which have been everywhere this season, offered in red and teal.
The central themes of Spring/Summer 2027 were nothing surprising for Piccioli: freedom, humanity, action and movement. What was impressive was the way he straddled modernity and legacy to bring these themes to life within the context of the house. Couture as ideology translates couture into the everyday. Into white shirts and distressed jeans and basque shapes from archival Balenciaga silhouettes. Here, Piccioli democratizes couture without taking from the luxury and reverence of the meaning. This is the work of a master, after all.
Balenciaga SS27 // Balenciaga
Balenciaga SS27 // Balenciaga
Balenciaga SS27 // Balenciaga
Balenciaga SS27 // Balenciaga