Key Takeaways
- Balenciaga’s Winter 26 "Clair-Obscur" campaign stars Anok Yai, Dara Gueye, and Liu Wen in shadow-heavy studio portraits by Robin Galiegue.
- Pierpaolo Piccioli channels High Renaissance contrasts through acid-bright colors, dark neutrals, and sculptural outerwear with high collars and rounded shoulders.
- The collection also introduces reworked house accessories including the Hourglass Avenue Bag, Le 7 Bowling Bag, Bloom Pump, and Midnight City Mule, and is available now.
Balenciaga has pulled back the curtain on its Winter 26 campaign, placing three of fashion's most recognizable faces at the center of a collection built on dramatic contrast.
Titled "Clair-Obscur," the campaign stars Anok Yai, Dara Gueye, and Liu Wen, shot in a studio setting by photographer Robin Galiegue. The images lean into heavy shadows that carve out the models' silhouettes, whether that means a dramatically rounded back or an exposed one.
The title borrows from a fine art and photography technique defined by sharp contrasts between light and shadow. The brand's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli applied that same tension to the clothes themselves, drawing on High Renaissance painting as a starting point and setting acid-bright colors against deep, dark neutrals throughout the collection.
"I wanted to capture that exact moment where raw structure suddenly feels tender, and heavy shadows give way to a splash of unexpected light and colors," Piccioli said, per WWD. "It's about taking Balenciaga's intense, sculptural heritage and making it feel entirely lived-in, human, and free."
The outerwear anchoring the campaign reads as the collection's clearest statement: hooded jackets, peacoats, and blousons built with dramatically high collars and rounded shoulders. Materials span leathers, shearlings, wools, and paillette-embroidered satin silks. The brand describes the silhouettes as sharp-edged and dramatically draped while also positioning them as a reimagining of historical Balenciaga codes for a contemporary wearer.
Accessories round out the lineup with equal intention. The Hourglass Avenue Bag revisits a silhouette long tied to the house, while Le 7 Bowling Bag takes its name from Paris's 7th arrondissement and is built from layered, cocooning construction.
The Bloom Pump and Midnight City Mule each carry a curved sensibility that mirrors the collection's sculptural approach. Gold B-shaped buckles and understated jewelry pairings thread through the looks.
Piccioli joined Balenciaga as creative director in May 2025, arriving from Valentino. Yai has been a consistent presence in his early tenure at the house, having closed his debut Haute Couture show in Paris on July 8.
The Winter 26 collection is available now at select Balenciaga stores and on balenciaga.com.
