At Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli channels Euphoria “finding light in darkness”
For Fall/Winter 2026, Pierpaolo Piccioli joined forces with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, exploring the tension between darkness and light through the couture volumes of Balenciaga.
On April 12, the third and final season of Euphoria premieres on HBO. Pierpaolo Piccioli has been a fan since the series first aired in 2019, collaborating with its musical director Labrinth on soundtracks for his Valentino shows. For his second Balenciaga ready-to-wear collection, he teamed up with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, who directed the show. The duo had decked out a stark space on the Champs-Élysée with screens teasing clips from season three, and frames from the series were conveyed as photo prints on clothing.
In a preview, Piccioli said he views Euphoria – which deals with the extreme and traumatising lives of a group of suburban youths – as a metaphor for the difficult times we live in. “I think Sam is able to find the light in the darkness. I think that’s how we need to see the world today. For me, it was about showing my perspective on this moment that we’re living through.” Like Euphoria, Piccioli’s work has always been a negotiation between tradition and progress. If the show portrays that same dialogue in human and cultural relationships, he mirrors it in his re-appropriation of the codes and meanings of haute couture.
Pierpaolo Piccioli saw the shape-shifting garments as representations of characters – not those of Euphoria, but a broader view of humanity.
ANDERS CHRISTIAN MADSEN
Saturday evening’s co-ed show expanded on that exchange. Founded in Piccioli’s notion of finding light in darkness, the collection drew on the artistic technique of clair-obscur in which strong contrasts between light and shadow are employed to create depth, drama and three-dimensional effects. Reflecting this idea in the form language of Cristóbal Balenciaga, Piccioli continued the quest of last season’s debut show to bring these codes into the contemporary wardrobe. He said he saw the shape-shifting garments as representations of characters – not those of Euphoria, but a broader view of humanity.
“At the end, we want to have a sort of fresco on humanity: this idea of painting portraits and faces, my language and Sam’s language together,” Piccioli explained. The fusion created a classic everyday wardrobe imbued with the couture shapes and volumes of Balenciaga. Made easy to wear, the eccentricity of the constructions conveyed the sense of character he wanted to obtain. A couturier at heart, Piccioli’s passion for bringing the codes of this most human of crafts to the street is a process that takes time to develop and settle in the mind of a new audience. In the wake of Demna’s much darker Balenciaga – still fresh the fashion recollection – it’s only just setting out on the path to finding its own light.
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