A lightness, an elasticity, and an innate consciousness of the body.
These are the first words that confront the audience encountering Balenciaga Fall 2026 online—a collection revealed during men’s week in Paris last month. I’m endlessly fascinated by the way show notes distill an entire season into a handful of phrases. I’m equally fascinated by how quickly those same words are seized upon as a full roadmap for the future of a house—especially when that house is Balenciaga, and that designer is only two collections in.
It’s a symptom of the Gen-Z-ification of fashion theory: the expectation that a debut must function as a dissertation defense. That answers are required now, now, now. There’s no room to linger with an idea, no patience for discovery—just a relentless social cycle and an internet fashion ecosystem bursting at the seams with people desperate to get there first.
I’m less interested in the hot take. I care far less about what a collection appears to say than why it’s speaking at all.
So we waited for the dust to settle, for the critics to do their thing. And then we went straight to the source—texting the designer himself about what’s been on his mind as he shapes his first Balenciaga collections.
What we got back was a peek into the inner workings of the creative mind:
Gabriella Karefa-Johnson: I just saw the collection… 🤯 I don’t really know where to start… I guess the beginning is good… What was the first thing this collection was born from?
Pierpaolo Piccioli: “When I decided to open my IG pages this was the very first picture that I have uploaded…I think it says a lot..”
GKJ: Divineeee. The bride that changed it all… Well, now I need the whole camera roll, unfortunately. What did designing between spring and fall 26 look like through your eyes?
PPP:
GKJ: I’m seeing some ideas that appear in Look 1: a bodysuit with cutouts, worn over almost runner’s leggings, with a very couture-leaning baseball cap and a crystallized mule—there are two weights that need lifting right next to her… This is a woman who is going to 10 different events and won’t look out of place at any of them. What are you saying by opening the collection this way? That women can have it all?
PPP: Yep, this woman—or man—can have it all.
Not in a loud way, not in excess, but with the quiet confidence of feeling right in their own clothes.
With this collection, I wanted to create a wardrobe that moves with you, that gives freedom and comfort through every moment of the day. Pieces you don’t have to think about, because they already belong to your life— at work, at rest, in between.
The more I think about it, the more I believe that fashion only makes sense when it stays close to people. Our lives are full, messy, beautiful, and constantly shifting. A real wardrobe should understand that. It should support you, not slow you down.
Look 1 can’t be described in a single word. It asks for more than one— because when one word isn’t enough, it means something new is being felt
GKJ: The more I look at the collection, I see sport everywhere. What is drawing you to athletics?
PPP: I’ve always felt that sport carries something quietly powerful if not romantic.
On a field or a court, people arrive from different places, with different stories, and for a moment they share the same rules, the same rhythm, the same goal.
There’s something comforting in that—the idea that equality can exist so naturally, without being explained.
Sport also teaches integrity in simple ways. You learn fairness, respect, and how to stand alongside others, whether you win or lose. Those lessons stay with you, often without you realizing it.
My son is a sports journalist….he’s not particularly interested in fashion (Well to be honest he doesn’t care at all!), but these values matter deeply to him. Writing this made me think of him—and I hope that, somewhere between the lines, he would recognize something familiar, maybe even feel proud of his dad!
GKJ: I feel like we agree that we should retire the term “athleisure” though… it is time…
PPP: ✅ done. TechWear.
GKJ: Can I see more of the moodboard?! We’ve got the NBA, we’ve got riding caps. A fascinating nexus.. There is also the métro… and men in baggy denim and chunky sneakers (is this the new Triple S?)… is maybe this collection just about life in its many modes and defining the look that can carry us through all of them seamlessly?
PPP:
Honestly, you’re right about the collection! But no those weren’t a new Triple S, they were an entirely new sneaker called Jet that even though there is volume they are performative and lightweight.
GKJ: Ease and attitude are the adjectives that are running across the bottom of my brain like ticker tape… what’s your relationship to the two—in this collection, but also in your practice as a creative director?
PPP: If people are not comfortable, they don’t feel good about themselves. I make clothes to make people feel good. Luxury should be about comfort and ease, as a state of mind. We don’t need more products…we need better products, better ideas, quality, research and innovation…and I want that people, clients, can feel that when they will wear my clothes.
GKJ: I, for one, feel seen. There is so much to connect to in this collection. Not least of all, for me, your use of gloves. You loveeee a glove… what’s your favorite glove in cinema history? I wish I was the girl who would say Breakfast at Tiffany’s… but I’m definitely more Margot Tenenbaum.
PPP: My love of gloves comes from Hitchcock….Tippi Hedren kinda vibe….
GKJ: Immediately, I’m thinking about the leather gown and glove moment. The leather work through this collection is… DEEPLY pleasing to me. There are leather vests, leather tees, leather hoodies, leather gowns… It’s HOT, and there’s an eroticism in it all for sure, but the sexiness never detracts from the coolness. Why do you enjoy working with leather in RTW so much? And why did it need to take so many forms in this collection?
PPP: Leather, for me, has always been more than just a material.
It carries a mood. I’m drawn to the way it allows me to build structure, to think almost architecturally, shaping volume in a way that feels instinctive rather than rigid.
At the same time, it holds a certain emotional weight within a silhouette. There’s something protective about it, but also deeply tactile—the way it rests on the body, the way it moves with you. It creates a sense of strength and intimacy at once, which is what keeps bringing me back to it.. and also it is so Balenciaga!!
I actually hate “cool” as a signifier… such an empty word with no real focus anymore in tangible qualities… what word would you use to describe that effortless, youthful, and modern feeling in these looks? Instead of “cool.”
Trying to be “cool” is one of the most uncool things you can do. “Personal” is better it has more authenticity and meaning….but it will be hard to remove that word from the fashion vocabulary we both know that.
GKJ: Speaking of CoOL… denim, America’s greatest contribution to “cool.” You are such a connoisseur. I really appreciate your commitment to the long denim short, like in LK78 (or Dirty Bag Short™ as I like to call them…). Talk to me about the proportions there. Tto me, there is nothing more fabulous than denim shorts that are too long and too baggy…
PPP: The “banana cut” is my favourite denim cut. its similar to Cristóbal’s couture shape and authentic to work wear.
GKJ: Conversely, there are a few men’s denim trousers that are, then, arguably too short. You’re playing chess, not checkers, in the denim arena.
PPP: We don’t always need an explanation for everything. Sometimes I design a piece in only one color because that piece was imagined in only that color and nothing else.
GKJ: That’s fair. What about the accessories: the hats? The shoes? The jewels? Where do those come in the design process? As a maximalist, I can’t even imagine these looks without them! Both the cohesion and, at times, tension within these elements really register as innate. Do you sketch in full looks?
PPP: Sometimes I sketch one statement/stand out piece and sometimes it’s a total. It depends on the flow.
GKJ: Going to shoot my shot on one of the standouts (no pun intended). Can I have this bomber? Y/N?
PPP: 👍🙂
GKJ: How long did it take the atelier to make the absolutely bananas… well, I’ll just call it the banana skirt, in LK28?
PPP: This piece required over 400 hours of work in the atelier to complete.
Our embroidery team drew inspiration from a 20-year-old embroidery archive and the real challenge was recreating materials with similar compositions and colors.
Every element of the embroidery was done entirely by hand in India, a country where embroidery is a deeply rooted national craft, on a delicate organza that was tone-on-tone dyed to match the carefully selected materials chosen by the team.
The embroidery is composed mainly of sequins in a variety of colors and sizes, both in the base and in the small “pom-pom” details that are organically scattered across the skirt
GKJ: (sent as voice note) My favorite detail in the collection is the double-wrapped closure on the moto/equestrian boot… I actually don’t know which it is. But I feel like I could ride a horse or a Harley in them. Talk to me about this shoe… but then tell me your favorite detail in the collection. Or better, show me.
PPP: (sent as voice note) I always like when a piece is undefinable, that’s when you know it’s a truly new thing. And it’s also a good reminder that in order to create “new” you have to take risks.
GKJ: Obsessed with it, and the jerseys, and the little basketball charms/keychains. Balenciaga’s developed a collaboration creative strategy that is already so innovative—but the NBA… INSPIRED.
PPP: I really believe athletes today have become a new kind of celebrity — not just because of performance or spectacle, but because they embody authenticity, discipline, and a real sense of responsibility. That kind of influence goes far beyond sport. It shapes how younger generations see effort, commitment, and values.
In a way, that’s the same responsibility I feel in fashion. At Balenciaga, creative direction can’t just be about innovation for innovation’s sake. It has to come from care — care for people, for culture, for what we put into the world. Just as athletes inspire through their actions, fashion has to speak through values. Creativity, for me, is a tool to connect people, respect differences, and move culture forward in a meaningful way.
GKJ: What’s your team?
PPP: LA LAKERS, and again this time it would be more on my daughter Stella…she loves basketball and she is a big Lakers fan
GKJ: Can we talk about Dennis Rodman… I would argue that the NBA can collaborate with Balenciaga in the year 2026 because of what Rodman did to push the bounds of how fashion can intersect with sport, and also how masculinity can communicate visually through dress.
PPP: I like Dennis Rodman’s freedom…I don’t know him as a person. He might have been referred to as quite a controversial figure. What is true though is that, in terms of looks well he did everything before everyone…I mean, hair color, piercings, tattoos…in the 80s?? And especially to have done that in sports, not in fashion…which makes it even more powerful and daring!
GKJ: Speaking of sports… which I try to avoid doing… you know who I could see wearing this collection, the boys from heated rivalry!!! Please tell me you’ve watched…
PPP: Of course I did…but this is above all a love story, in this series sports is a metaphor for what’s still a bit conservative I guess…so the more anti-conservative things are the more I appreciate them.
GKJ: Well, I’m seeing some casting opportunities here… The lookbook has such a fab cabine– obsessed with Eliot Sumner. Do you think of the people who might wear your clothes while you are designing… or is the Balenciaga man and woman more abstract. Crystalizing only in the casting process?
PPP: People are essential to my job. I don’t draw or create for myself. I do that for people to wear my clothes. And of course, I love to see people that I actually like representing my work…actually this is how you create a community, sharing values, ideas and creativity of course, and yes of course there is business behind, but I strongly believe that people can tell when there’s a true connection.
GKJ: Well, I’m available for a Winter 26 exclusive. I only accept payment in City bags
PPP: Fair point, I would do the same
GKJ: I have to know what you were listening to while designing this collection… why do I feel like it was some sort of workout motivation? Do you have a workout playlist?
GKJ: Mine heavily features DMX… but unfortunately the best incline running song of all time is “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, followed closely by “Black Skinhead” off Yeezus. That song makes me feel like I can lift a pickup truck with my pinky finger… Speaking of, the gowns in this collection feel almost heroic… like Greek mythology meets Wonder Woman. What are they saying about her in the context of Fall 26?
PPP: The Balenciaga woman has an inherent boldness — she’s uncompromising, and she’s strong, or at least this is how I see her. For Fall 26, I was thinking a lot about comfort and ease, because I truly believe confidence comes from feeling comfortable in your own body. This collection is a wardrobe for life today. It brings together sports and technology across different garments — street formal, techwear, sports sartorial, even a kind of techno ballgown. The spirit of Balenciaga lives in the reality of modern life and its paradoxes. The dresses are all made in jersey and weigh less than a T-shirt..and so you actually slip into them. as you would wear a T-shirt, no boning, no structure, just light draped jersey….There’s an awareness of wellbeing in this collection—a sense of care—combining the formal with the casual and bringing occasion into the everyday, but also a bit of extravaganza which I think is a very coutur-ish attitude…beauty doesn’t have to be complicated and if it is, well it’s not beauty, it’s an effort and effort is not…fashion!
And there you have it… What a beautiful brain, indeed.
