Balenciaga's new CMO has never worked at a luxury house.
That is precisely why she was hired.

Drieke Leenknegt joins effective today. Twenty years at Nike. CMO at Vans. CMO at Timberland. The role at Balenciaga had been vacant for nine months. Read that alongside yesterday's other news: Balenciaga becomes the first luxury house to partner with Substack. And the ongoing activation: smoothies, fitness studio takeovers to launch Techwear — Piccioli's first foray into functional fashion.

Three decisions. One communications architecture assembled in real time.

Piccioli arrived in July 2025 with one instruction: go to the archive first. Three days in Getaria — Cristóbal's birthplace. Not to copy the clothes. To understand the method. A designer who built everything around the body. Not the mood board. Not the logo. The body.

"Less cynical, more human." Not a slogan. A repositioning of a brand that generated 600 million TikTok views with #burnbalenciaga in 2022.

The strategy requires three things: a media channel the brand controls — hence Substack. A product that makes the philosophy tangible — hence Techwear. A CMO who understands culture brands — hence Nike.

Cristóbal Balenciaga gave one press interview in his entire life. "Prestige is more important than fame. Prestige remains, fame is ephemeral."

Cristóbal would not recognise the instruments. But he might recognise the strategy.