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Balenciaga and French shoemaker J M Weston have released a four-style footwear collection in soft calf and Nappa leather, priced from $1,050 to $2,350. Balenciaga sells the line at select stores worldwide and on Balenciaga.com. It comprises the lace-up derby brogue in men’s and women’s sizes, the men’s d’Orsay oxford, the unisex loafer and the men’s mule.
The shoes first appeared on the runway in March, inside Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Winter 26 ClairObscur collection, and Balenciaga calls the project an evocative, hybrid approach that combines signatures from both maisons. It is the house’s second footwear collaboration of 2026 after three silk-satin Manolo Blahnik styles from the Fall 2026 collection, Body and Being, which went on sale on 19 May.
The brogue has worn edges and visible threading, with metal Le City studs across the upper. The men’s d’Orsay Oxford is asymmetrical, its wingtip perforations tracing a double-B logomark on each toe, and small metal nail heads spell the size on the heel. The men’s mule reconstitutes the brogue as a slip-on: the facing folds outward and the back of the heel folds in, exposing the natural colour of the leather’s interior. The brogue’s worn edges and visible threading and the mule’s folded-out interior expose layers a dress shoe normally hides.
The unisex loafer has a foldable double tongue: the first is debossed with a Balenciaga logo, and the exposed inside of the second carries the J M Weston name. Every insole is hot-stamped in gold foil with a collaboration logo made for the project, and the lining is natural-coloured calfskin.
JM Weston was founded in 1891 in Limoges and still makes its shoes in a single factory there. It owns the tannery for its sole leather, and a pair takes roughly 200 operations and several weeks to complete. Its dress shoes are traditionally built with a Goodyear welt, a stitched construction that allows a pair to be resoled, though the announcement does not specify how these pairs are made.
Balenciaga, part of Kering, is roughly a year into Piccioli’s tenure as Demna’s successor. Under Demna, a high-profile footwear collaboration was Crocs, whose platform clogs first appeared in the Spring 2018 collection with Jibbitz charms that included the Balenciaga logo. The Impression tied the Blahnik release to Piccioli’s effort to move the house’s footwear toward couture references and artisanal production.
ClairObscur was Piccioli’s second runway show and third collection for the house, staged in Paris on 7 March, and its name borrows the Renaissance painting technique that builds form from light and shadow. The runway was shrouded in darkness for 81 co-ed looks, and the opening looks were all black, among them a leather bomber with a high-slit pencil skirt and a hip-length peacoat with a raised collar over leggings. Euphoria creator Sam Levinson collaborated on the show’s environment, with screens projecting fragments of the series’ upcoming season, and Labrinth and Rosalía provided the soundtrack.
A trench and jumbo hoodie screen-printed with photographs opened the way to red-orange, grey-brown, burgundy and chocolate, alongside fuchsia and red leather bomber. In his show notes, Piccioli said he is “deeply interested in people” and drawn to fragility and imperfection because that is where he recognises the authenticity and beauty of life. Coats and jackets carried exaggerated portrait collars and hoods, and long leather opera gloves finished several looks. Ombré ran through the handbags and leggings, and the platform shoes had peep-toe details.
Piccioli sent menswear down the Balenciaga runway for the first time, with hooded coats and furry parkas beside wool outerwear in vivid primary hues. WWD’s review singled out studded, off-kilter brogues, the fruit of the Weston collaboration.
Balenciaga released a limited Balenciaga | HBO capsule at its two Paris flagships right after the show, created by Piccioli and Levinson together. It included medium-fit and cropped T-shirts and oversized zip-up hoodies printed with an artwork titled Still Life, which shows objects in the dark with light just grazing their outlines. Leather-framed Le City mirror charms and a made-to-order version of the Le City Bag joined them. Each piece has a fabric tag stating its number in the edition, and orders arrive in custom packaging with a card holding a QR code that leads to exclusive digital content.
The ClairObscur campaign, released on 27 August, was photographed in a studio by Robin Galiegue and stars Anok Yai, Liu Wen and Dara Gueye. Balenciaga said the campaign centres on outerwear and bags. Outerwear takes the lead in hooded jackets, peacoats and blousons with tall collars and rounded shoulders, in leather, shearling and wool, plus satin embroidered with paillettes. The Hourglass Avenue Bag revisits the house’s Hourglass silhouette, and the Le 7 Bowling Bag takes its name from Paris’s 7th arrondissement. The Bloom Pump and the Midnight City Mule are both shaped around exaggerated curves.
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