Get Ready for a Kinder, Gentler Balenciaga

Balenciaga, one of the most storied and controversial houses in fashion, has a new designer.

On Monday, Kering, the group that owns the brand, announced that Pierpaolo Piccioli, the longtime head of Valentino who parted ways with that brand in 2024, had been named creative director, in charge of women’s wear, men’s wear, accessories and couture. He replaces Demna, the mononymic designer who led Balenciaga since 2015, transforming it into a lightning rod for both trends and social issues, and who announced earlier this year he was leaving to join Gucci (which is also owned by Kering).

The news puts Balenciaga, which has struggled to regain the sizzle it had in the early years of Demna’s tenure after almost being canceled after allegations related to what some saw as a badly misconceived isim campaign, into the hands of an experienced and beloved industry figure.

And, at a moment when Kering is struggling after dismal 2024 results, with a 12 percent fall in revenue and creative change at three of its brands (Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Balenciaga) it signals a potential shift in approach.

Mr. Piccioli, after all, is one of fashion’s great romantics, while Demna is one of its great disrupters; his vision is more utopian than dystopian. Mr. Piccioli is known for his couture rather than his elevated streetwear — a detail that Francesca Bellettini, Kering’s deputy chief executive, cited as particularly important for Balenciaga in the news release about his appointment. And perhaps just as significantly, Mr. Piccioli has ambitions to change the very image of the industry.

The Valentino fall 2024 couture show by Pierpaolo Piccioli, staged at a 16th-century French chateau. Credit…Simbarashe Cha for The New York Times

A look from Demna’s Balenciaga “mud” show in 2022, inspired by “digging for the truth.” Credit…via Balenciaga