Balenciaga has confirmed that Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli is leaving the house, with parent company Kering making the announcement on November 5, 2026. The news wasn’t entirely unexpected. Puck reported in late October that Balenciaga staff had already been told Piccioli was leaving after less than two years.
Piccioli was appointed in May 2025 to succeed Demna, a move widely seen as a signal that the house would return to its couture roots. He arrived having left Valentino in 2024 after 25 years, and his Spring/Summer 2026 debut traded Balenciaga’s oversized streetwear for a quieter, more refined elegance.
In Kering’s statement, Balenciaga President and CEO Gianfranco Gianangeli thanked Piccioli for his dedication and credited him with reaffirming the house’s couture origins. Kering CEO Luca de Meo called him “an exceptional couturier and creative talent,” adding that the group plans to build on Balenciaga’s avant-garde spirit while honouring its heritage.
Kering says the new creative direction will be announced shortly, but the industry may already know the name. Puck has reported that Martine Rose is Balenciaga’s next designer. Rose spent three years as a menswear advisor under Demna at the house and was previously in talks to succeed him when he left for Gucci. Her name also surfaced in 2025, when Highsnobiety reported she had been rumoured for the role and may have been considered as co-creative director alongside Piccioli.
If confirmed, it would be a homecoming of sorts. The British-Jamaican designer founded her eponymous label in 2007, drawing on rave, hip-hop and punk subcultures, and her career took a major turn in 2015 when Demna brought her in to work on his first Balenciaga menswear line.
Neither Balenciaga nor Kering has commented on the reports.
Founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastián in 1917 and established in Paris in 1937, the house remains one of fashion’s most influential names, and whoever takes the helm next will inherit both its couture legacy and the very different identities Demna and Piccioli left behind.
