Two seasons into his tenure at Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli has quickly proven his ability to meld the House’s storied past and present, forging a beautiful new era for the House of Balenciaga.
Piccioli shed new light on this new era—literally and figuratively—on Saturday night in a dark venue along Paris’s famed Champs-Élysées. Guests entered the show space, which was wall-to-wall with huge screens, that played a transcendental video made in collaboration with Sam Levinson, creator of HBO’s Euphoria.
The videos illuminated the room, foreshadowing the collection, which was inspired by the artistic technique clair-obscur, which studies the juxtaposition between darkness and light. Piccioli was inspired by the idea of interplay and the two extremes it can create, and this theme runs throughout the collection.
Sculptural Silhouettes and Statement Outerwear
Ready-to-wear expands upon the codes explored for Spring 2026, which signaled a return to the methodologies of Cristóbal Balenciaga, emphasizing form, sculpture, and construction. This season’s silhouettes further explore these principles, with cocoon coats and statement outerwear (a theme this season throughout) giving way to beautiful draping on dresses and gowns.
Other silhouettes are defined by clair-obscur effects, playing with light like sequined embroideries on dresses or a feathered coat with hints of sparkle. Speaking of sparkle, this play on light and shadow extends to the bags as well. Ombré leather and gradient crystals define the season’s new bags, like the boxy new iteration of Le City, which launched for Pre-Fall.
Bags Take Center Stage
These new silhouettes include the HG Avenue, which is a softer, semi-structured play on the classic Hourglass bag, and the George Bag, which introduces a bold new House emblem that reinterprets the classic double B. Both shapes are shown in a range of solid colors as well as bold ombré iterations inspired by the juxtaposition of light and shadow.
Elsewhere, classics like the Rodeo and Le City are seen alongside a third new shape—the Fan Bag, which is a mid-sized top-handle shape defined by its relaxed, belted closure.
Images courtesy of Balenciaga
I love this. Such an upgrade from the years of wacky and boring stuff churned out by previous Balenciaga teams. This feels like a return to the NG level.
Accessories have never been PP strength at Valentino and seems like they will continue to not be his strength at Balenciaga
So many fabulous bags! I love the red/ burgundy bag at the beginning of this blog and the large shiny black City Bag is stunning!
i’m not sure why, but it just feels creepy
LOL might be the moody dark camera work
Wouldn’t this be Winter 2026? All these pics match Bal’s Insta story album for winter 2026.
Traditionally, this collection is Fall/Winter 2026, though in recent years brands have started to modernize by titling Pre-Fall collections as Fall, and Autumn/Winter collections as Winter—such is the case here.
Though confusing, both are editorially correct as publications like Vogue, WWD, etc., still categorize collections by the traditional fashion calendar.
Per the brand’s internal language, yes, this is Winter 2026. Hope this helps! 🙂
The clothes are great. The bags not so much apart from the rodeo and City iterations imo.
I love quite a few of these! What is the tote with the undone front clasp called?