After 25 years at Valentino — where he rose to lead the house — Pierpaolo Piccioli now takes the creative helm at Balenciaga. What’s next?
Pierpaolo Piccioli’s move marks a new chapter built on evolution rather than revolution. After a quarter-century shaping Valentino’s modern elegance, the designer steps into Balenciaga’s avant-garde world with a seasoned vision. He is set to guide the house into its next era, the latest step in a journey that began in his seaside hometown and led to the creative helm at Valentino.
From Nettuno to Valentino
Growing up in Nettuno, a coastal town south of Rome, Piccioli studied literature at the University of Rome before entering fashion. After interning at Brunello Cucinelli, he joined Fendi, working alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri for a decade. In 1999, Valentino Garavani brought the duo onto Valentino’s accessories team, where they collaborated closely for 17 years, eventually becoming co-creative directors in 2008. Piccioli’s relaxed upbringing subtly influenced his early approach; he once joked about wearing sneakers or flip-flops to his first meeting with Garavani.
Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri
Source: Pinterest
Through eight years of co-creative leadership starting in 2008, followed by his solo tenure beginning in 2016, Piccioli moved Valentino forward without losing sight of its past. He made the house’s elegance feel lighter, easier, and genuinely wearable. Couture denim and relaxed pieces naturally shared space with refined evening wear. Piccioli honored Garavani’s glamorous codes, yet understood that fashion needs to resonate beyond the runway.
Solo Vision: Couture and Beyond
Once on his own at Valentino, Piccioli turned couture into a platform for storytelling and inclusivity. He often spoke of fashion as a tool to shape the world he wants to see. For example, his Spring 2019 couture show famously re-created a 1948 Cecil Beaton tableau, casting a majority of Black models to celebrate diversity and representation. He cast models of every age, shape, ethnicity and gender, inviting in students and “regular” women to sit alongside celebrities, treating the runway as a community space. In 2022 he staged couture on Rome’s Spanish Steps as an “ode” to Valentino, yet he filled the front row with 120 fashion students and underrepresented models.
“We keep the language but change the attitude.”
— Pierpaolo Piccioli, Vogue (2011)
This philosophy, preserving Valentino’s codes while infusing them with new spirit, guided Piccioli throughout his tenure. He became known as a masterful colorist: his debut solo collection in 2017 was awash in butter yellow, ruby red and hot pink hues, and in 2022 he even created a custom “Pink PP” shade with Pantone. At the same time, Piccioli emphasized fashion’s emotional purpose. He has repeatedly said that new designs alone aren’t what people need, instead, they crave inspiration.
His impact reached beyond the runway, earning recognition that highlighted his broad cultural resonance. He received the British Fashion Awards’ Designer of the Year title twice, first in 2018 and again in 2022, a historic achievement for Valentino. In 2019, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world, a rare distinction for a fashion designer.
“You don’t need a new bag or item;
you need new emotions and new dreams,
and that’s what fashion is for.”
— Pierpaolo Piccioli, Art of Style (2018)
Even as he leant into couture fantasy, Piccioli kept one foot in reality. He would send out extraordinary gowns and custom Birkenstocks, couture jeans and soft bomber jackets. In one season he could show jeweled evening gowns and in the next vintage-inspired daywear. Each runway also sent a gentle social message. In 2023, Piccioli invested heavily in menswear, staging a Milan show where tailoring mixed with floral ties and soft fabrics. He challenged old ideas of masculinity: “We have been talking a lot about masculinity, gender. It’s too easy sometimes to fix people into boxes,” he said, arguing that “gentleness or kindness or evenness can be your strength”. His Valentino, in short, was a house of poetry as much as a house of glamour – intimate, diverse, and attuned to the dreams of its audience.
A New Chapter at Balenciaga
Now Piccioli arrives at Balenciaga with nuanced ambition. On May 19, 2025, Kering confirmed his appointment as creative director, effective July 10, describing him as “one of the most talented and celebrated designers of today.” Francesca Bellettini, Kering’s deputy CEO, highlighted Piccioli’s passion for craftsmanship and emphasized continuity with Demna’s impactful tenure.
Piccioli himself calls the transition from Demna a “passing of the torch,” and identifies strongly with founder Cristóbal Balenciaga, noting their shared small-town origins and deeply personal approach to design. His previous work already signals fluency in Balenciaga’s visual language—his Valentino collections often embraced bold volumes and exaggerated silhouettes reminiscent of Balenciaga’s signatures. Notably, his Moncler x Pierpaolo Piccioli Fall 2018 ready-to-wear collection echoed the architectural grandeur of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s iconic silk gazar gowns, further reinforcing his connection with the house’s heritage.
“Not all stories have a beginning or an end, some live a kind of eternal present that shines so bright that it won’t produce any shadows.”
— Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino departure statement (2023)
As Piccioli prepares to debut his first Balenciaga collection in October 2025, industry anticipation runs high. His work at Valentino consistently demonstrated fashion’s emotional depth, and now at Balenciaga, the key question is how he will translate his approach into a house famed for its conceptual edge. Under Piccioli’s guidance, Balenciaga stands poised to explore new expressions of elegance, proving that even avant-garde fashion can resonate with humanity and warmth.
