Kering has appointed Pierpaolo Piccioli as the new creative director of Balenciaga. This marks a decisive moment in the more comprehensive efforts by the French luxury goods group to stabilize and reposition its most important fashion houses after a difficult year 2024.
The group reported a decline in sales of twelve percent for 2024. Gucci recorded rising losses, while the dynamics at Bottega Veneta and Saint Laurent slowed down. Both at Gucci and Bottega Veneta there was recently change at the creative tip. With Piccioli at the head of Balenciaga, the group seems to be averted from the conceptual disruption, which shaped the era of Demna Gvasalia and a more romantic, couture-oriented sensitivity: less streetwear, more high fashion.
Piccioli, who left the Italian fashion house Valentino 2024 after more than 20 years and eight years as the sole creative director, will supervise all categories at Balenciaga: Ready-to-Wear for women and men, accessories and couture. Gvasalia’s last collection for the house will be the 54th haute couture presentation in July. He spent almost a decade at Balenciaga and catapulted the brand to the top of the fashion discourse through a provocative mix of streetwear, subversion and cultural comments.
Kering: Restructuring takes place after increasing pressure
This appointment signals a remarkable realignment of the strategy of the French luxury goods group Kering. Francesca Bellettini, deputy CEO and head of brand development at Kering, emphasized in the announcement of the company Picciolis Couture qualifications. This underlines the desire to reaffirm Balenciaga’s historical connection to craftsmanship and high fashion and not to become controversial virality.
“I could no longer be happy to welcome Pierpaolo in the group,” said Francesca Bellettini. “He is one of the most talented and celebrated designers of our time. His mastery of haute couture, his creative voice and his passion for savoir faire made him an ideal choice for the house. I would also like to thank Demna for the brave, distinctive vision that he gave Balenciaga in the past ten years and I have shaped the identity of the house today. convinced that Pierpaolo and Gianfranco Balenciaga will perfectly lead through this important new chapter in his remarkable story. ”
Piccioli is known for the modernization of the couture language of the Roman house Valentino with inclusive casting and a more emotional vision. His aesthetics-lyrical, clever and deeply humanistic-stands in a sharp contrast to Gvasalia’s dystopian minimalism and meme-compatible silhouettes.
“Balenciaga is what it is today, thanks to all the people who have paved the way,” says Piccioli. “In all its phases, while it has constantly developed and changed, it has never lost sight of the aesthetic values of the house. What I receive is a brand full of possibilities that is incredibly fascinating. I have to thank Demna first; I have always admired its talent and vision. To add a chapter with a new story. “
Since an advertising campaign in 2022, Balenciaga has had triggers to recover completely. While Gvasalia continued to receive support of parts of the fashion establishment, the brand’s commercial and reputation-related dynamics kept after. Piccioli’s arrival could offer the kind of calm restart that is necessary to restore consumers’ trust: inside and the creative credibility.
Balenciaga will present his first collection under the direction of Piccioli during the Paris fashion week in October.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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