There is something deliberately quiet about the way Pierpaolo Piccioli has chosen to make his entrance at Balenciaga. No declarations of rupture, no sweeping iconoclastic gestures. Just people — real, complex, recognisable — who inhabit the clothes with the ease of someone who knows exactly who they are. The Heart and Body campaign, released on February 17th, 2026 and photographed by David Sims inside a Parisian atelier of bare, geometric architecture, is the visual manifesto of this philosophy: an aesthetic that refuses the constructed persona in favour of genuine presence, that chooses vulnerability over engineered perfection.
The announced cast already reveals much about the direction Piccioli intends to imprint on the Maison. The new brand ambassadors are British actor Harris Dickinson — one of the most compelling faces in contemporary European cinema, already a protagonist in Babygirl and director of Urchin — American icon Winona Ryder, whose career spans decades and genres with rare consistency, and South Korean star Roh Yoonseo, twice winner of the Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actress. Alongside them, the new Friends of the House: American actresses Danielle Deadwyler and Havana Rose Liu, British composer Labrinth — the architect of Euphoria‘s sonic atmosphere — Canadian actor Hudson Williams, models Mona Tougaard and Loli Bahia, and Balenciaga exclusives Ned Sims and Sen Samysheva. A constellation of identities that crosses generations, disciplines and geographies, without forced narratives or superficial aestheticisation.
“In the roles I choose to play and the stories I’m drawn to as a filmmaker, what matters most is character and humanity, how we navigate change, tension, and growth. Pierpaolo brings that same depth and emotional truth to his work. It’s clear that creative freedom and authenticity are essential to him. Working with Balenciaga is an honor. The House’s legacy has always been distinct and powerful, and I’m incredibly excited to witness this next chapter with Pierpaolo at the helm.”
The space in which everything takes shape is deliberately suspended: a Parisian atelier that Sims transforms into a place outside of time, where — in Piccioli’s own words — “stillness makes identity clearer and connection becomes possible“. The gridded photographic compositions and video portraits oscillate between closeness and distance, detail and full figure, blending candid snapshots with filmed interviews whose spoken fragments are then layered as a looping sonic collage. The effect is that of an emotional archive rather than an advertising campaign: every face carries a story, every frame returns a presence.
Through Sims’ lens, the ready-to-wear from the Summer 26 (The Heartbeat) and Fall 26 (Body and Being) collections reveals its most essential nature: contemporary silhouettes rooted in the Maison’s classical tailoring technique, volumes built to liberate the body rather than contain it, an apparent austerity that conceals a wholly dynamic lightness. Piccioli restates his credo with the clarity of someone who has no need to shout it: “The person wears the clothing, not the opposite“. In this single sentence lies the entire difference between fashion as imposition and fashion as an extension of the self. The Summer 26 collection is available in select boutiques and online from February 17th, inaugurating not just a season but, in the creative director’s intentions, an entirely new emotional language for the Maison.
“It’s genuinely an honor to partner with Pierpaolo and Balenciaga. This campaign isn’t just about fashion — it’s about identity and having the confidence to show up as yourself without compromise. Balenciaga and Pierpaolo have been pushing the conversation around luxury and culture, and I’m still kind of in disbelief that I get to be a small part of this next chapter.”
–Hudson Williams.
For further information Balenciaga.com.
