The fashion industry has a body diversity problem. Yet among the creatives working within it, Pierpaolo Piccioli remains one of the most curious about the human form in all its shapes and expressions. Balenciaga’s Resort 2027 collection, Unsized – A Lightness of Being, emerges from this curiosity, continuing fashion’s longstanding and inseparable relationship with the body.

Subverting traditional silhouette construction has always been a hallmark of Balenciaga collections. While the house is perhaps best known for its oversized garments, the Resort 2027 collection fits neatly into a broader exploration of how clothing should interact with the body—and why.

In contrast to Balenciaga’s famous, and at times notorious, use of oversized proportions, Resort 2027 embraces a lighter approach to garment architecture. Heavy fabrics are largely absent, yet a sense of dynamic movement runs throughout the collection. Ribbons of cloth wrap around the body without restricting the wearer. This is the philosophy behind Unsized: garments as complementary adornments rather than heavy bundles of fabric.

The main fabric used throughout is called techno taffeta, a lighter iteration of an archival fabric used by Balenciaga. Kid mohair and super-light wools are used for softness and rigidity without contributing any additional weight. All the fabrics used were meticulously selected to serve the “unsize” purpose of this collection. Free-feeling functional garments, arranged in interesting shapes, are the centerpiece of Spring 2027.

The collection’s handbags take existing staples of the Balenciaga archive and tune them to the doctrine of “unsize.” They took the Rodeo bag (left) and lined it with techno taffeta to give it a more supple feel and appearance. The City Core (right) plays with the iconic City bag’s expressions, minimizing surface details.

Throughout the Spring 2027 footwear, patterns of snug fits and light materials emerge. Toying with the silhouettes of boat shoes, running shoes, and ballet flats, Balenciaga changes around the traditional cuts of staple footwear and softens them to create low-profile shoes that look and feel like a second skin.

Balenciaga also took the opportunity to pay homage to its past through the collection’s “unsize” jewelry. Nearly every earring, necklace, and bracelet references an earlier Balenciaga collection, whether Cristóbal Balenciaga’s penultimate haute couture collection for Autumn/Winter 1967 or archival charms and beads drawn from across the house’s history, all reimagined as wearable art.

Unsize reconsiders some of the most fundamental principles of silhouette in contemporary fashion. In one sense, it possesses a profound humility, nodding to tailoring traditions that stretch back to the brand’s foundation. Yet through its innovative fabrications, the collection charts a new course toward unexplored interactions with the human form—one of fashion’s most enduring and essential subjects..