Balenciaga

Cristóbal Balenciaga opened his first house in San Sebastián in 1917 before relocating to Paris in 1937, where the label found its lasting identity. The proposition was clear from the start, couture as sculpture, with the body considered in the round rather than flattened to a sketch.

Christian Dior called him “the master of us all,” a line that has followed the house ever since and shaped how the founder’s work is read against the rest of mid-century Paris.

Menswear was not part of the original house, which closed in 1968. It only entered the picture after the brand was revived in 1986 and expanded through the 1990s and 2000s.

Under Nicolas Ghesquière and later Demna Gvasalia, the men’s collections drew on the founder’s interest in volume, the cocoon coat, the barrel line, the dropped shoulder. The designers pulled in sportswear references, oversized tailoring in heavy wool, boxy leather blousons, and the Triple S sneaker that helped define late-2010s footwear.

The house sits alongside Vetements, Raf Simons-era Calvin Klein, and Margiela in the conversation around how runway menswear absorbed streetwear. Demna’s work was recognized with the Designer of the Year prize at the 2017 Fashion Awards.

Balenciaga has been owned by Kering since 2001. The group funded the international retail expansion and the shift from a house known mainly for womenswear into a full ready-to-wear business with a serious men’s category.

Demna stepped back from the creative director role in 2025 after a decade in the position, with Pierpaolo Piccioli announced as his successor. The change marked the first major handover since the Ghesquière era.

The men’s offer now dresses a customer who reads runway shows and resale listings in the same afternoon. The label sits in the same bracket as Saint Laurent and Givenchy on the commercial side while holding a separate, more conceptual place on the runway.