01PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI SHOWED HIS FIRST BALENCIAGA COUTURE ON 8 JULY,
AND IT LOOKED NOTHING LIKE THE BALENCIAGA YOU PICTURE. NO IRONY,
NO MUD, NO DYSTOPIA: ELECTRIC PINK, NEON ORANGE, MINT
GREEN, VOLUME BUILT LIKE ARCHITECTURE. A STANDING OVATION, AND TEARS.
02HERE IS THE MYTH WORTH BUSTING. TO MANY PEOPLE, BALENCIAGA MEANS
DEMNA'S VIRAL PROVOCATIONS OF THE PAST DECADE. BUT THE FOUNDER,
CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA, WAS THE COUTURIER CHRISTIAN DIOR CALLED
'THE MASTER OF US ALL', AND CHANEL CALLED THE ONE TRUE COUTURIER.
03CRISTOBAL WAS A RECLUSE WHO LET THE CLOTHES SPEAK. HE GAVE JUST
TWO INTERVIEWS IN HIS LIFE, BOTH AFTER HE SHUT THE HOUSE IN 1968,
AND MANY FAMOUS CLIENTS DID NOT MEET HIM. HIS SCULPTED VOLUMES AND
STIFF SILK GAZAR CHANGED WHAT A DRESS COULD PHYSICALLY DO.
04PICCIOLI SPOKE THAT LANGUAGE FLUENTLY. PUFF-SLEEVED GAZAR BOMBERS
WITH BULGING BACKS, COCOON COATS WITH OUTSIZE BUTTONS, CAPES AND
CARVED SHOULDERS, A FINALE OF TOPIARY GOWNS IN STACKED FEATHERS.
GIGI HADID CLOSED IN A HOOD OF JUTTING ROOSTER FEATHERS.
05THE MAN DELIVERING IT KNOWS LOSS. PICCIOLI GAVE 25 YEARS TO
VALENTINO, BUILT IT INTO A HOUSE OF COLOUR AND MODERN ROMANCE,
THEN LEFT IN 2024 IN A RAW, EMOTIONAL FAREWELL. A YEAR IN THE
WILDERNESS, AND THEN BALENCIAGA CALLED.
06SO THE OVATION WAS DOUBLE: FOR A DESIGNER REBORN, AND FOR A HOUSE
HANDED BACK ITS COUTURE SOUL. BALENCIAGA WAS NOT REALLY ABOUT
THE MEME. PICCIOLI JUST REMINDED A FULL ROOM WHAT THE NAME WAS
BUILT TO MEAN.