Pierpaolo Piccioli gives one of the House’s most recognizable accessories a softer, more functional shape for Winter 2026.
Some fashion signatures survive because they refuse to stay exactly the same.
For Balenciaga, the Hourglass has become one of those signatures. Now, under Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli, the House is revisiting the familiar curve with the introduction of the Hourglass Avenue Bag, a new interpretation designed to bring greater ease and function to one of Balenciaga’s most recognizable accessory shapes.
From Couture Proportion to Handbag Architecture
The Hourglass story extends further back than the handbag itself.
Balenciaga traces the shape to the cinched, sculptural proportions associated with founder Cristóbal Balenciaga’s couture work. The House says the curved form recalls the Basque Waist and the designer’s longstanding exploration of proportion around the waist and hips.
That vocabulary eventually informed the original Hourglass Bag, introduced in Balenciaga’s Winter 2019 collection and distinguished by its structured body and dramatic concave base. Seven years later, Piccioli is keeping the curve but shifting the attitude.
Meet the Hourglass Avenue
Debuting with the Winter 2026 ClairObscur Collection, the Hourglass Avenue draws inspiration from the traditional doctor’s bag while maintaining the sculptural profile associated with the Hourglass family.
Its construction is deliberately more relaxed. Balenciaga uses glossy reworked box leather that gives the bag structure while allowing natural creases and movement to develop over time. The result feels less rigid than earlier versions without losing the geometry at the design’s center.
Function Becomes Part of the Design
The update is not purely aesthetic.
The Hourglass Avenue features a primary top handle alongside a concealed second handle, allowing the silhouette to change depending on how the bag is carried. An adjustable and removable crossbody strap adds another option.
A short folding flap closes across the top with a magnetic lock, while larger versions add interior and exterior storage intended to make the bag more practical for everyday use.
Perhaps its most specific detail is also its quietest.
Engraved into the closure are the words “Balenciaga 10 Avenue George V,” referencing the Paris address connected to Cristóbal Balenciaga’s historic ateliers and the House today. Rather than placing an oversized logo across the front, the detail turns Balenciaga’s physical history into part of the hardware itself.
A Different Kind of Hourglass
The Hourglass Avenue arrives at a moment when Piccioli is beginning to define his own language at Balenciaga.
Instead of discarding an established House code, he has chosen to reinterpret it—retaining the Hourglass curve while introducing a softer construction and more adaptable functionality.
That distinction matters. The Avenue does not attempt to erase the original Hourglass. It expands what that silhouette can become.
Balenciaga currently offers the Hourglass Avenue across multiple leather treatments, colors and formats. In the United States, the small top-handle bag is priced from $2,690, while the medium is listed at $2,990. The collection is available through Balenciaga boutiques and Balenciaga.com.
With Hourglass Avenue, one of Balenciaga’s modern accessory signatures moves forward by looking at both the House’s couture past and how people actually carry a bag today.