Runway praise, weak sales: why Piccioli’s Balenciaga run lasted 16 months

The couture promise

When he arrived at Balenciaga in July 2025, Piccioli brought 25 years at Valentino with him. He joined the Italian house in 1999 as an accessories designer, co-led its creative direction with Maria Grazia Chiuri from 2008 to 2016, then ran it alone until 2024. He succeeded Demna, who left for Gucci after a decade that turned Balenciaga into the label of sneakers, hoodies and provocative shows.

The appointment read as a promise: Balenciaga would return to the haute couture roots of its founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Piccioli kept it. According to Fashionista, his Spring/Summer 2026 debut moved away from streetwear toward textural separates and more elevated silhouettes. In July 2026 he presented his first haute couture collection for the house. In the departure announcement, Balenciaga president and chief executive Gianfranco Gianangeli thanked him for reaffirming the couture origins of the house.

PICCIOLI’S 16 MONTHS AT BALENCIAGA

Compiled from Kering, Reuters and Fashionista

The runway and the shop floor

The problem was on the shop floor. Kering does not disclose Balenciaga’s revenue, but its third-quarter report on 22 October was explicit: the house "remained resilient in leather goods, while its ready-to-wear and shoes categories were still challenged." In the same release, Kering chief executive Luca de Meo said the group was doubling down on the renewal of Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen.

Leather goods held up mainly because of bags. The Rodeo and the relaunched City helped sales pick up in late 2025 and early 2026. But clothing and shoes are where a creative director’s signature shows most clearly. According to W Magazine, the Fall 2026 collection drew lukewarm reviews, menswear sales slipped, and Kering acknowledged that Balenciaga went through challenging second and third quarters.

Put simply, the gowns praised on the runway had not turned into sales in the stores. For a decade, Balenciaga’s regular customers came for sneakers and statement bags, not evening wear.

Kering has no time to wait

Piccioli is not the only one leaving. In October, Saint Laurent, Kering’s second largest brand, confirmed that Anthony Vaccarello was departing after almost ten years. At about the same time, Alexander McQueen parted ways with Seán McGirr. Three brands lost their creative leads within weeks. In its third-quarter report, Kering said McQueen was pursuing its repositioning as part of a turnaround plan, which puts Balenciaga and McQueen in the same bracket: houses the group is actively trying to fix.

The numbers explain the impatience. Kering’s third-quarter revenue came to €3.345 billion, flat on a reported basis and down 1% on a comparable basis. Gucci, the group’s flagship, brought in €1.291 billion, down 6% on a comparable basis. The bright spots were jewelry, up 11%, eyewear, up 4%, and growth at Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. Reuters noted that the economic fallout from the war in Iran and weak consumer sentiment in China continue to weigh on luxury.

"There is a lot on creative directors’ shoulders these days, as brands strive to grow again after a significant reset," Luca Solca, a luxury goods analyst at Bernstein, told AFP in mid-October. He was talking about McQueen, but the point applies just as well to Piccioli.

Were 16 months too short?

There is a fair counterargument. Reshaping a fashion house usually takes years, and 16 months allowed for only four collections. Balenciaga itself credits Piccioli with steering the house in the couture direction it chose when it hired him. If that direction was right, stopping halfway could leave customers even less sure what the brand stands for.

But for a listed group with shrinking revenue, time is the hardest thing to buy. With Gucci still going backward, every other brand has to contribute growth, and a strategy that needs years to pay off becomes a bet Kering is unwilling to keep making.

Back to the street?

Kering has not named a successor, saying only that the new creative direction "will be announced shortly." According to Puck, British-Jamaican designer Martine Rose will take over. Rose runs her own menswear label in London and previously worked as a menswear consultant at Balenciaga under Demna. Kering declined to comment, and Rose did not respond to Fashionista’s request for comment.

If confirmed, Balenciaga would be heading back toward the street spirit that once drove strong growth, aimed squarely at the clothing and shoe categories that are now weak. That carries its own risk. In the same AFP interview, Solca said McQueen’s problem was that it had relied on streetwear and sneakers for its growth.

The ivory looks on the runway on 1 October showed that Piccioli did what Balenciaga hired him to do. His exit shows that what Kering needs now is something else: not a promise of couture, but clothes customers will buy next season. Piccioli has not disclosed his next move.