Pierpaolo Piccioli: Balenciaga’s Next Creative Director
A quick glimpse into the Italian designer's path to leading Balenciaga's creative direction
We’re finally starting to see most of the vacant creative director seats filled with the people who will lead brands during a time full of headwinds. Balenciaga’s young and experimental creative director Demna left to become Gucci’s next artistic director, leaving the top spot open. While a few names were projected to land this job, it was ultimately Pierpaolo Piccioli who was chosen, and it’s hard to argue with the selection. He’s had a long and successful tenure with some of the most well know fashion houses and has the potential to make some necessary changes.
Pierpaolo grew up in Nettuno, Italy and, different than most of his creative peers, studied both design at Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) and literature at Rome University. After an internship at Brunello Cucinelli, his full-time career began at Fendi in 1989 working on the brand’s various accessories. He had the opportunity to start his career at the same time as legendary designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, who is currently leading creative at Dior and is the first woman to do so since the fashion house started. While there isn’t one specific item he’s credited with developing, his impact on the brand during his decade-long term would be felt (internally from employees and and externally from customers) for years to come.
Pierpaolo then moved onto begin what would be a 25 year stint at Valentino. Both he and Maria joined the brand to continue working on accessories. After several years they were named co-creative directors and functioned as a well-oiled machine together for another eight years until he took on the job solely and she left for her current post at Dior. While his list of accomplishments is quite long, he was known for championing Diversity and Inclusion within the fashion world, going on record stating “Inclusion is embracing people for what they are and not what they should be. We don’t just deliver clothes, we deliver values through our clothes.1” Throughout the years he casted models of all ages, body types, and ethnicities for his fashion shows. Pierpaolo also used a much wider color palate than his predecessors within the men’s line and was able to elevate the brand’s reputation so much that the likes of Zendaya, Lady Gaga, Coleman Domingo, Anne Hathaway, etc. all often adorn pieces from the house on red carpets around the world. He’ll now take over at Balenciaga from Demna, a Georgian designer who brought a youthful personality with more than a handful of questionable product releases. I think this is a clear sign that the executive team wants to shift away from that world and potentially go back to more classic couture pieces and styles.
As a reminder, Balenciaga is under the holding company Kering, which also touts brands like Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, and plenty more. They’ve been in the headlines for the better part of this year, but not for good reasons. Their star portfolio company, Gucci, was down 25% in sales, and financial performance in most of their key geographies was soft. They’ve seen their market cap shrink to less than half of what it was four years ago (~€21B now). The good news is last week Kering announced they will be the official partner for Google’s next round of smart glasses, which could be a massive boost to their business if the partnership lands well. This, and Piccioli’s performance, could determine the company’s short and long term outlook for years to come.
The Business of Fashion YouTube Channel; Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino’s Creative Director: On Inclusivity