Every Eye in Paris Will Be on Balenciaga In Couture Week

Paris Haute Couture Week runs 6th July to 9th July, and on the 8th, Pierpaolo Piccioli steps into perhaps the most consequential creative moment of his post-Valentino career. His Balenciaga couture debut is the most arguably the anticipated fashion event of the year.

After a decade under Demna, Balenciaga became a polarising house. In May 2022, the brand launched limited-edition “extra destroyed” Paris High Top Sneakers, featuring rips, scuffs and heavily worn-down details — shoes that came with accusations of romanticising poverty and prompted the Salvation Army to launch a counter-campaign using real shoes donated by homeless people. That same year, Balenciaga released the “Trash Pouch”: a bag retailing at nearly $2,000 which, despite being made from calfskin, was designed to look like a bin liner. At a time of a cost-of-living crisis, many argued the product was tone-deaf.

The trash bag wasn’t the only design that didn’t land. In the years prior, the label had built its identity around pieces that trod a fine line between clothing and gimmick — signature sock sneakers that became a celebrity favourite, worn by everyone from Kim Kardashian to Bella Hadid and Rihanna; a DHL t-shirt; and a seven-layer coat retailing at $9,000. For many, Balenciaga had arguably pushed past that line.

Perhaps the most damaging controversy of all was the 2022 holiday campaign, which featured children alongside the brand’s S&M-inspired teddy bear handbags, with the bears appearing to be dressed in leather harnesses. In a separate campaign, a legal document relating to a 2008 Supreme Court case on child pornography appeared as a prop in the background of a shoot. Balenciaga denied responsibility for its inclusion and sued the production company.

Off the back of boycotts and scandals, Kering handed the house to a man who champions romance. The commercial stakes are real too. Kering’s 2025 revenue decline put pressure on every brand in its portfolio.

Piccioli has already confirmed a softer, less confrontational direction. “There’s nothing worse than trying to be cool,” he said earlier this year. Following his first collection for Balenciaga he said: “Balenciaga is a disruptive brand, from Cristóbal to Nicolas and Demna, in the times they were working. What does disruptive mean today? I feel that connecting with humanity is the most radical act you can do now: shaping an approach less digital and abstract, but closer to the emotions of humanity.”

For couture, he may weave that sense of humanity through in the most literal way, centring the body, letting the construction serve the person wearing it rather than the other way around, something he has cited before. Previous strong moments have included long gowns in silk jersey and velvet and tailoring that embraces the body rather than fighting it. Whatever he brings to the runway, it’s the collection people will be talking about.