In his debut collection for Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli drew on founder Cristóbal Balenciaga’s rich archives and picked up where Demna left off, quite literally. The show was staged at the Kering headquarters inside the historic Laennec landmark, where his predecessor’s exhibition was held in July. The front row had long-time Balenciaga ambassador Isabelle Huppert and new faces for the brand who wore Piccioli’s creations for Valentino, such as Anne Hathaway, Simone Ashley and Shailene Woodley. (One absentee was Demna’s Balenciaga house ambassador Nicole Kidman, who is rumoured to have joined Chanel.) He always put the body at the centre of his research,” Piccioli explained during a preview on Saturday afternoon.