Pierpaolo Piccioli Leaves Balenciaga After Less Than 16 Months, Kering's Third Designer Exit in a Month

Pierpaolo Piccioli is leaving Balenciaga. Kering announced his departure on Thursday, November 5, in a release that gives no reason and no end date, and says only that the house's new creative direction will be announced shortly. He took the job on July 10, 2025, so he leaves a little under 16 months in.

The statements are warm and short. Gianfranco Gianangeli, Balenciaga's president and CEO, thanked Piccioli and said he had put couture back at the centre of the house. Luca de Meo, Kering's CEO, called him "an exceptional couturier and creative talent" and said the group wants to build on Balenciaga's avant-garde spirit and its heritage.

Kering didn't name a successor. The US outlet Puck has reported that Martine Rose, who runs her own London label and was a menswear consultant at Balenciaga under Demna, will take over; Reuters, reporting Puck's story, said Kering couldn't be reached for comment on it. Until Kering announces a name, treat that as a report, not a fact.

Third in a month

It's the third creative director to leave a Kering house in four weeks. Kering's own press page lists Anthony Vaccarello's departure from Saint Laurent on October 9 and Seán McGirr's from Alexander McQueen on October 15, and now Balenciaga. Of the three, Piccioli had been in his job by far the shortest time.

Balenciaga

What he did there

Kering named Piccioli in May 2025 to succeed Demna, who had left for Gucci, Kering's biggest house. He came with 25 years at Valentino behind him, eight of them as its creative director, and his collections leaned on couture technique and clothes meant to be worn every day. His third ready-to-wear show, in Paris on October 1, ran on coral and couture stitching, and talk about his future was already going round then. His latest release for the house is a Skiwear Collection, in stores since late October according to Balenciaga's Instagram, which was still promoting it this week.

Our read

Under sixteen months is short for any designer at a house this size, so the speed says more about Kering than about Piccioli. He was hired in May 2025, before Luca de Meo took over as Kering's CEO that September, and in the weeks since early October three Kering houses have lost their designers. Whoever comes next will be the first Balenciaga designer chosen under de Meo, and will have to show where Balenciaga goes after Demna's provocations and Piccioli's couture.