As one of the most anticipated debuts in a historic season of debuts, Pierpaolo Piccioli’s first-ever presentation at Balenciaga was always going to draw in the starriest of crowds. (Think: PinkPantheress, FKA twigs, Anne Hathaway, Simone Ashley, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kristin Scott Thomas.) Few however, would have predicted that Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, would make a surprise appearance. Markle was the final celebrity through the doors, dressed in an elevated iteration of her Montecito casuals: an outsized ivory button-down with wide-legged trousers and a wrap-around shawl.
And so it wasn’t just Piccioli making a debut. While the Duchess last made an appearance on the front row at the 2015 Toronto Fashion Week – and the spring/summer 2014 Herve Leger, Tory Burch and Tracy Reese presentations at New York Fashion Week before that – never has she been a presence at a fashion week in Paris. (The capital of all fashion capitals.) This unexpected appearance is the latest example of Markle’s efforts to expand her cultural footprint beyond what has previously been expected of a royal. Since stepping down as a senior member of the firm, there have been podcasts, documentaries, a television series, and the launch of her brand, As Ever. An endorsement from Piccioli puts her in an entirely different category altogether. A legitimising of her newfound status as a lifestyle multi-hyphenate.
In terms of the collection itself, there were all the bold brushes of colour we’ve come to expect from Piccioli, rendered in aubergine and blood orange and canary yellow across cocoon-sleeve coats and feathery skirts and ruffle-hemmed halter-neck minidresses, alongside the bug-eyed shades and militaristic tailoring Demna and Nicolas Ghesquière introduced during their respective tenures. “Embracing the work of Cristóbal, Demna, Nicolas, is cooler, and more revolutionary than to deny what’s been before you arrive,” the designer said in a recent interview with Vogue. “We need to manage this moment with more intelligence, be less stupid and about ego. I think fashion never talks about intelligence. We also have to have a new idea about respect and care, because we as creative directors have responsibility for a lot of people.”
Original article appeared on British Vogue
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