Pierpaolo Piccioli - Designer

[avonlea002]

I don't think he has anything left to say as a designer. He is one of those voices in fashion that I won't miss.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I feel we are experiencing a shift in direction for the industry as a whole soon, with the general decline of luxury goods revenues and the long term damage some brands are likely taking from years of relying on low-end product sales where product margins can be raised to the highest degree.

Burberry, Gucci and Balenciaga are the most worrying cases but are far from the only ones where a re-adjustment of strategy will be necessary. I‘m curious to see what the top management‘s answers will be!

 

[Lola701]

Balenciaga should get Glenn Martens. Except if Renzo Rossi decides to put Glenn at Margiela…

 

[LadyJunon]

Pierpaolo at Balenciaga would actually be good. Demna's vision for the brand is so tried.

^the clothes would be beautiful and potentially interesting, that's for sure. The bigger question would be the accessories.

I don't think he has anything left to say as a designer. He is one of those voices in fashion that I won't miss.

As much as I enjoyed PPP's Valentino (at the start), I think he acted more like a showman than a designer. According to BoF, despite the huge spike in visibility, Valentino's growth had been slowing down since 2019, which was why they replaced the CEO.

I imagine that PPP's tenure was so long, in spite of this, was because the suits were hoping that the huge press engine around the couture would trickle down into sales for the ready-to-wear and accessories. The issue with that strategy is that everything else lacked that "couture magic". Everything from the products to brand-building felt more like Michael Kors than an Italian couture house.

Balenciaga should get Glenn Martens. Except if Renzo Rossi decides to put Glenn at Margiela…

That could work very well. He's very similar to Demna in terms of design philosophy, only without the underlying incel-like anger and bitterness. That said, I'd rather see him go to Margiela and flex his de/reconstructionist skills there.

 

[MulletProof]

Balenciaga should get Glenn Martens.

delete this, Lola! Cristobal’s legacy won’t be saved by replacing the current conman with the king of gimmicks and disposable rags.

 

[tourbillions]

i dont get the hype and why people would wait for his next move. His valentino was very one note and had no personality.

 

[Lola701]

delete this, Lola! Cristobal’s legacy won’t be saved by replacing the current conman with the king of gimmicks and disposable rags.

At this point, Cristobal’s legacy has been damaged to the max. I think, giving his Couture for Gaultier, that he can make a nice transition from all the trash they have put in the universe into something more elevated.

I think the magic of Nicolas was that the line was modern enough for the time but he leaned to the classic Couture style of Cristobal.

My fear is that PPP’s vision may be too classic, too dull for Balenciaga. I don’t think he has that edge.

 

[tricotineacetat]

One of the biggest fortunes I had digging through all sorts of obscure vintage market places was that I managed to find a vintage Balenciaga haute couture jacket from the late 1950ies or early 60ies - Arguably the time Cristobal produced some of the most monastic and modern pieces of his career. While I have the jacket carefully stored for most of the time, I awe at the timeless modernity of it’s cut, the elegance but also effortlessness of it’s wear. It’s a garment whose ownership has been very enriching and educating, to say the very least.

I find it honestly a bit puzzling when you have a house with such a beautiful legacy and well-documented archive for a designer then not to reference it - Yes, Nicolas did great collections, some of which had little to do with archival Balenciaga, but when you have pieces that are a good 60-70 years old, whose design is still relevant and modern, I think an integral part would be to always, always offer a substantial part in the collection that revisits those styles.

Nicolas did that towards the later part of his Balenciaga tenure when he added the Edition capsule, I don’t know if something similar still exists today. Anyway, the complete disregard in the majority of Demna’s work or calling some of his foul jokes a reference to the work of Cristobal is blasphemous.

 

[LadyJunon]

One of the biggest fortunes I had digging through all sorts of obscure vintage market places was that I managed to find a vintage Balenciaga haute couture jacket from the late 1950s or early 60s - Arguably the time Cristobal produced some of the most monastic and modern pieces of his career. While I have the jacket carefully stored for most of the time, I awe at the timeless modernity of it’s cut, the elegance but also effortlessness of it’s wear. It’s a garment whose ownership has been very enriching and educating, to say the very least.

I find it honestly a bit puzzling when you have a house with such a beautiful legacy and well-documented archive for a designer then not to reference it - Yes, Nicolas did great collections, some of which had little to do with archival Balenciaga, but when you have pieces that are a good 60-70 years old, whose design is still relevant and modern, I think an integral part would be to always, always offer a substantial part in the collection that revisits those styles.

Nicolas did that towards the later part of his Balenciaga tenure when he added the Edition capsule, I don’t know if something similar still exists today. Anyway, the complete disregard in the majority of Demna’s work or calling some of his foul jokes a reference to the work of Cristobal is blasphemous.

The thing is that 1997 Balenciaga and 2015 Balenciaga were in very different situations.

Ghesquière had the challenge of rebuilding a couture house in an era when brands were either shutting down those operations or shifting them to become marketing machines. Noticing that Balenciaga was being reinterpreted by minimalists like Lang and Sander, he established Balenciaga as the brand of post-minimalist chic.

Demna, like Wang, had to take over a brand with a preestablished identity and grow it further. For the few seasons, he adapted Ghesquière's template to his dialect before realising that shifting towards the current Balenciaga would be generated more sales. Funny enough, Balenciaga isn't discussed at all in womenswear circles, so I imagine the grungy, aggressive, male-focused rebranding doesn't really appeal to them at all.

I imagine that after Demna, Kering will try to go back to "Classic Balenciaga" where it's just an orgy of cocoon coats, shift dresses, straight-cut pants and court shoes in shades of black, ivory and grey.

 

[lookatme]

Please no. PPP is a cringe boomer trying to be down with the kidz. His efforts at trying to make Valentino young and punk was so disingenuous…cheap and garish outlet mall clothes on gangly, sourpuss teenagers stomping around a hotel particulier like it’s some revolutionary act. His last several collections were indistinguishable from Kate Spade...all that mumbo jumbo about color being JOY. I hated it.

He had maybe 2 good years (and only one EXCELLENT collection) as the solo director of Valentino, and honestly the rest was garbage. He is not missed.

 

[PDFSD]

One of the biggest fortunes I had digging through all sorts of obscure vintage market places was that I managed to find a vintage Balenciaga haute couture jacket from the late 1950ies or early 60ies - Arguably the time Cristobal produced some of the most monastic and modern pieces of his career. While I have the jacket carefully stored for most of the time, I awe at the timeless modernity of it’s cut, the elegance but also effortlessness of it’s wear. It’s a garment whose ownership has been very enriching and educating, to say the very least.

I find it honestly a bit puzzling when you have a house with such a beautiful legacy and well-documented archive for a designer then not to reference it - Yes, Nicolas did great collections, some of which had little to do with archival Balenciaga, but when you have pieces that are a good 60-70 years old, whose design is still relevant and modern, I think an integral part would be to always, always offer a substantial part in the collection that revisits those styles.

Nicolas did that towards the later part of his Balenciaga tenure when he added the Edition capsule, I don’t know if something similar still exists today. Anyway, the complete disregard in the majority of Demna’s work or calling some of his foul jokes a reference to the work of Cristobal is blasphemous.

There was the creation of the editions in commercial/pre collections every season as a way to bring archive back into the offering those did well and started to build repeat customers i remember..

 

[jeanclaude]

Please no. PPP is a cringe boomer trying to be down with the kidz. His efforts at trying to make Valentino young and punk was so disingenuous…cheap and garish outlet mall clothes on gangly, sourpuss teenagers stomping around a hotel particulier like it’s some revolutionary act. His last several collections were indistinguishable from Kate Spade...all that mumbo jumbo about color being JOY. I hated it.

He had maybe 2 good years (and only one EXCELLENT collection) as the solo director of Valentino, and honestly the rest was garbage. He is not missed.

"Stumbling" is more accurate, with PPP shoes for Valentino.

 

[tourbillions]

i never got youthful vibes from his collections. even ancora collections has more personality than his. He started well and fell flat like most of his models.

 

[PDFSD]

i never got youthful vibes from his collections. even ancora collections has more personality than his. He started well and fell flat like most of his models.

To be fair PPP di many years and had better collections with in his talent strength than Ancora , Ancora guy was known to be the weaker one with in the walls of Valentino office, as Ancora guy is a total snooze taste wise whereas PPP at least pretends to have one .....

I say if PPP is a pretenius overpriced wine at the local supermarket that people with no knowledge would buy, because of the price and fancy label on the bottle, Ancora is the cheap supermarket brand label one on offer always.

:-)

 

[VogueDisciple93]

I definitely believe he has more to say and has a place but I do not think it’s at Balenciaga especially since I do not believe Kering has the pockets and patience for the full overhaul this would require because his design language would not meld well with Demna’s. PPP should be at a brand with more romance.

 

[tourbillions]

To be fair PPP di many years and had better collections with in his talent strength than Ancora , Ancora guy was known to be the weaker one with in the walls of Valentino office, as Ancora guy is a total snooze taste wise whereas PPP at least pretends to have one .....

I say if PPP is a pretenius overpriced wine at the local supermarket that people with no knowledge would buy, because of the price and fancy label on the bottle, Ancora is the cheap supermarket brand label one on offer always.

:-)

Either way ill unfriend anyone who gives me either of these wine.