Pierpaolo Piccioli Wants to Remind You That Balenciaga *Is* Couture
The house Cristóbal built.
Yesterday morning, the fashion community, not to mention stars like Sarah Pidgeon and Lola Tung, met in Paris to feast their eyes on the latest from Pierpaolo Piccioli's Balenciaga. For the House's Summer 2027 collection—titled Les Coraux de la Liberté after an art piece from 2025 by French artist Aude Franjou—Piccioli focused on Balenciaga's roots as a couture house. "It is a personal exploration and investigation of couture as a working methodology, but also an ideology; a mindset for modern creation that can infiltrate the culture of a fashion house," the show notes stated. In those notes, the brand shared an intention for this collection to be experienced as a continuation of the 55th Balenciaga Couture Collection, rather than separate entities, as many ready-to-wear and couture collections are treated.
To bring this to life, basic T-shirts and jeans were crafted using couture techniques, something Piccioli's done before during his storied tenure at Valentino. "Rather than something unobtainable, [couture] functions as a dynamic engine to drive the House, a systematic manner to reshape everyday garments," the notes continued. In a way, he was able to democratize one of the most exclusive aspects of fashion—an area that only a brand's most important, top-spending clients can afford to experience. Perhaps owning a piece from a Balenciaga couture collection is a far-off dream, but a Summer 2027 shirt or handbag can be saved up for. It's achievable.
Read more about Piccioli's process and intention this season at Balenciaga below.
Balenciaga Spring Summer 2027 Show
The Humanity of Couture
"A trace of humanity can be found in every garment—a quality that defines them, as Balenciaga," the show notes read. It's a powerful sentiment. Couture is all about attention to detail and human skill, with each stitch sewn by hand and a strict set of rules in place. To further emphasize this season's focus on human intervention, bias cutting and pliant materials were utilized by Piccioli and his team of master creators. "The body and hand are at the core throughout," said the show notes. "Women’s and men’s shoes are pliant, malleable, soft against the foot: the Wave Thong Sandal, a flat in toile canvas, the heeled Dahlia Mule, and the new unstructured Lounge Sneaker."
New Bag Alert
A new It bag has arrived, and its slouchy shape feels like a breath of fresh air given how similar so many of today's popular handbag styles are. Balenciaga has named its just-debuted hobo bag the Nodo, which means knot in Italian. "Bags such as the Nodo or Silhou Tote are supple, executed in leather, shaped and draped by hand," the show notes describe the bag, as well as another new silhouette called the Silhou Tote. Like the rest of the Summer 2027 collection, the Nodo was designed using couture techniques, making it even more special and worth saving up for.
Anti-Basic Basics
There are basics, and then there are Balenciaga basics crafted using couture techniques from one of the haute couture industry's finest houses. In other words, these aren't just any T-shirts and jeans. "A wardrobe of prototypical ready-to-wear garments—denim jeans, shirts, T-shirts, bombers, accessories—are redefined through studies of cut and construction, and their proximity to the hand," the brand wrote in the show notes for Summer 2027. "Pieces begin their life in the House’s ateliers, using processes of draping and forming to determine their architecture. Through superlative cut and construction—human intervention—we can change the language of the known."
That Leather Jacket
On the streets outside the show, and in its front row, one item reigned supreme: Balenciaga's fall/winter 2026 brown leather jackets in all their many variations. The same rich shade of brown leather featured peplum waistbands, oversized shawl collars, and cropped hemlines, with each alternative being worn by various It girls in attendance, from Sarah Pidgeon to Shailene Woodley. Kaya Scodelario and Lori Harvey also wore the jacket trend.
Orange For Spring?
If purple was the color of 2026, orange is already shaping up to be its replacement once 2027 arrives. There were signs before the Balenciaga show, but the color's prevalence in the brand's latest collection made it a sure thing. From cummerbund-adjacent miniskirts with long trains and handbags to formal gowns and knit sets—there was certainly no shortage of orange styles to choose from.
