The Return of Reverence: Pierpaolo Piccioli Steps Into Balenciaga

When the news broke that Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino’s poetic soul, would take the reins at Balenciaga, the fashion world collectively inhaled. And not just because it marked the end of Demna’s hyper modern, irony laced era, but because it signaled something much more powerful: a possible return to the house’s sacred origins.

Let’s not forget: Cristóbal Balenciaga wasn’t just a designer. He was the couturier of couturiers, revered by legends like Dior and Chanel for his architectural silhouettes, monastic restraint, and almost spiritual approach to form and volume. There was a grace to Balenciaga’s work, an unspoken dignity that has felt increasingly distant in a world obsessed with virality over vision.

Enter Pierpaolo.

A Different Kind of Radical

Piccioli’s departure from Valentino in early 2024 left a vacuum in fashion’s emotional center. For over two decades, he redefined modern romanticism: drenched in color, inclusivity, and humanism. But beneath the ruffles and organza was always a clear, unwavering vision of beauty that didn’t pander to trends. With him, fashion felt like it meant something again.

Now, imagine that energy applied to the legacy of Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Piccioli isn’t here to mimic Demna’s post ironic spectacle. If anything, he’s here to remind us that couture was once a sacred act, an art of construction, gesture, and silhouette. Balenciaga, under Piccioli, might not scream for attention. It might whisper. And that whisper could be the most radical thing in fashion today.

A House Reclaimed

This move by Kering could mean a renaissance, not just for Balenciaga but for fashion as a whole. We've spent the past decade watching houses compete in a race of provocation, meme-ification, and AI generated chaos. But now? With Piccioli at the helm, we may be on the brink of a return to fashion’s original language: form, volume, and silhouette as poetry.

Expect less logo and more lineage. Less dystopia and more drape. Less culture jamming and more couture.

And let’s be clear: this isn’t nostalgia. This is restoration.

The New Elegance

What excites me most is the potential slowness of it all. In a world obsessed with speed and shock, Piccioli’s Balenciaga could reintroduce reverence into fashion, a kind of elegant solemnity we haven’t seen in ages. There’s something inherently rebellious about that.

So yes, the runway will be watching. But for those of us who’ve spent years mourning the soul of Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli feels like a homecoming.

Welcome back, grace.

xxx, The Lazy Chaiii