Proof that Pierpaolo Piccioli is already fluent in Balenciaga-isms

Vogue Singapore

21-05-2025

The fashion industry is united in acknowledging Cristóbal Balenciaga as a designer like no other. His technical prowess resulted in designs that became ever more flawless as time went on. Writing in 1967, the year the Spanish couturier retired, UPI reporter Aline Mosby put it this way: 'The clothes of Balenciaga…looked like an ironing board headed into the wind. It was that smooth look, every seam a masterpiece, the flat surfaces with hardly a dent to show even the bosom, the faultless construction, the hunched-over curve, that made Balenciaga—without question—the world's greatest living creator of women's clothing.'
Pierpaolo Piccioli will be the fifth designer to pick up the great man's mantle, following Michel Goma, Nicolas Ghesquière, Alexander Wang, and Demna. The pairings below, which place the Italian designer's work next to that of Balenciaga, suggest he is well suited for the job. His joy in colour is grounded in designs that have rigour. Valentino, spring 2018 couture Marcus Tondo Gift wrapped: Stella Oakes in Cristóbal Balenciaga's white satin gown with a red taffeta bow. Cecil Beaton
In a conversation earlier today, Piccioli recalled that the very first image he posted on Instagram was Balenciaga's famous wedding dress of 1967, a bias-cut oval of gazar and coal-scuttle hat that is a study in simple elegance and the manifestation of the couturier's belief that 'elegance is elimination.' Piccioli saw this marvel, which he describes as a 'masterpiece of the history of fashion,' on display in the Costume Institute's 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination' exhibition at The Met. Balenciaga, he said, is 'probably one of the first minimalists, and that dress, to me, is a manifesto of what Brancusi was saying: Simplicity is complexity resolved, which is also my manifesto when I work. So I resaw this post, and even if I'm not a fan of predestination, I felt there was something. Sometimes we have to go where, unaware, we are going already.' It certainly feels like Piccioli is embarking on a golden off-to-meet-the-Wizard moment. David Bailey
1 / 21 More than minimal: Cristóbal Balenciaga's silk gazar wedding ensemble Courtesy of Moncler 1 Pierpaolo Piccioli
2 / 21 Moncler x Pierpaolo Piccioli, fall 2018 ready-to-wear Yannis Vlamos
3 / 21 Valentino, fall 2018 couture Frances McLaughlin-Gill
4 / 21 From Cristóbal Balenciaga: 'Evening white swept with red.' White satin dress and red velvet stole Carl Erickson
5 / 21 Goya-inspired dresses by Cristóbal Balenciaga Courtesy of Valentino
6 / 21 Valentino, spring 2022 couture Courtesy of Valentino
7 / 21 Valentino, fall 2023 couture Irving Penn
8 / 21 A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. Susan Murray wears Cristóbal Balenciaga's black crepe dinner dress with black gazar rose headdress Bettmann
9 / 21 Diana Vreeland with Cristóbal Balenciaga's famous one-seam coat Salvatore Dragone
10 / 21 Valentino, fall 2021 ready-to-wear Courtesy of Valentino
11 / 21 Valentino, spring 2024 couture John Rawlings
12 / 21 B is for bolero and balloon and Balenciaga Carl Erickson
13 / 21 Nineteenth-century-inspired looks by Cristóbal Balenciaga Courtesy of Moncler
14 / 21 Moncler x Pierpaolo Piccioli, fall 2019 ready-to-wear
15 / 21 Valentino, spring 2023 couture Intercontinetale
16 / 21 Cristóbal Balenciaga stripes it rich, 1955 Getty
17 / 21 Belle feather: Cristóbal Balenciaga's marabou-trimmed sheath, 1957 Salvatore Dragone
18 / 21 Valentino, fall 2021 ready-to-wear Courtesy of Balenciaga
19 / 21 Balenciaga by Demna, fall 2021 couture Clifford Coffin
20 / 21 She's the tops: A model wears Cristóbal Balenciaga's feathered hat Filippo Fior
21 / 21 Valentino, fall 2021 couture
This article was first published on Vogue.com.