Balenciaga launches its first campaign under the direction of Pierpaolo Piccioli

Following his runway debut at Paris Fashion Week, Pierpaolo Piccioli presents his first campaign for Balenciaga alongside David Sims: an intimate and deeply human portrait. From the Hôtel de Maisons–Pozzo di Borgo, the Parisian Maison ushers in a new era.

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After “The Demna Years,” as we will call them, in which irony dominated Balenciaga’s imagery, Piccioli’s arrival redefines the center of gravity. His first gesture is quiet, almost intimate: natural light, skin, a restrained gesture. “I wanted to create something that felt truly personal and human,” says the designer in the note. And he succeeds. 

Piccioli revisits Cristóbal Balenciaga‘s sculptural legacy—his obsession with form and proportion—and translates it into an emotional narrative. David Sims’ images condense all this with an almost cinematic beauty. Mona Tougaard and Sandra Murray appear in sun-drenched rooms, wrapped in white sheets, with a calmness that feels almost radical in times when visual hyperproduction and overstimulation are leaving our brains practically fried.

What is interesting is how Piccioli balances intimacy with structure. His silhouettes remain architectural, but they do not impose; they accompany. It is as if there were a breath in every seam. It reminds me of Peter Lindbergh and his way of portraying truth without artifice, or Sofia Coppola’s universe.

In the campaign, the Rodeo and Le City bags function as symbols of continuity: the link between the past and the present. They are not mere accessories at the service of the campaign, they are a living memory of the house’s history. Objects that connect the past and the future, but above all, serve to direct the gaze towards the Balenciaga woman.

Are we looking at the new woman for Balenciaga, or is it just another campaign? If it turns out to be the former, it seems that this idea of stillness, of calm, also defines the new Balenciaga woman. She is not a distant muse, nor a figure of power in the traditional sense. She is someone who is present. “Spontaneous, real, soft, but strong,” says Piccioli. And yes, she is.

Did you see that Balenciaga has launch a new fabric? Discover all the details about Neo Gazar here.