How does one take the brazen hyper-realist satire of one predecessor and blend it with the still ultra-futuristic innovation of another, all while paying homage to the founding couture classicist of the house of Balenciaga? Pierpaolo Piccioli’s debut collection was a good start to answering that question, especially if you’ve always wondered what Ingrid Bergman would look like if she worked in digital media and had a season pass to the opera. That aesthetic is not too far off from reality, either—celebrity appearances at major fashion shows are a bit like bingo cards, and none so far have checked off Meghan Markle, Pink Pantheress, Lauren Sánchez, FKA Twigs, and Anne Hathaway all in one go.
The collection was highly shoppable, which has become a leitmotif among the designers who have debuted so far—they want your wallets out and they want you to be inspired. And it cast a wide net of appeal, bringing together both the house’s hardcore archival fans and the Demna disciples. If you looked closely, Piccioli’s inaugural outing tapped more early Demna-isms, like the semi-sheer T-shirt or boxy shapes, than many probably expected. His subtle nods to the now-Gucci creative director actually illuminated how Demna discreetly honored Cristóbal’s legacy.
Any reference that Piccioli made had to undergo—in the designer’s own words in the show notes—a total “recalibration.” As such, the clothing became a palate cleanser that bridged the past with the present, a task that any new designer must face (there just aren’t usually this many all in a row). The opening look, whose shape took inspiration from the 1957 sack dress—a shocking silhouette at the time—combined with bug-eyed eyewear that evoked more recent collections, is a prime example of this. Same with the 1967 cocoon coat shown in leather with a pair of low-rise skinny trousers and a gold B-buckle belt. But if you didn’t know any of that, you would think that’s what the most tasteful woman you know dresses like, and that universal appeal is what makes the clothing completely translate to the present day.
Even with this transformational approach, the core of Piccioli’s ethos peeked through. That is the point of ushering in a new era, after all. Feathered skirts, opera gloves, and an entirely solid color scheme harkened back to exactly what made his Valentino so uniquely youthful and chic. His woman is wearing pool float–sized flip-flops with parachute khaki shorts, and what of it? This craft was particularly potent when he recognized that the couture fan was suddenly getting younger and they wanted more right now.
However, it’s Piccioli’s touch of contemporary timelessness, in combination with the sudden departure from the Demna decade, that makes us realize how immortal the house of Balenciaga has the potential to be. Now that the runway has been wiped clean, the designer only has the open road in front of him.
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