Renato Balestra’s new collection channels Piranesi’s prints

The Balestra Reload Collection AI22/23 by Sofia Bertolli Balestra, head of research, design, and brand identity at the maison, pays homage to Giambattista Piranesi by using his prints as patterns. The collection marks the brand's first prêt-à-porter line and embodies a new stylistic vision. It features the house's signature blue, a brilliant night blue first used on a short satin dress, now applied to Piranesi-inspired designs. The style references the 1970s and 1980s with soft shapes, deep necklines, oversized shoulders, and voluminous skirts and coats. The prints evoke Piranesi's etchings with chiaroscuro effects, triumphal arches, columns, temples, and pine trees, creating a romantic, dreamlike, and theatrical mood. The monogram RB, designed by Renato Balestra in 1971, appears as a macro print with a neon effect. The collection also reflects the brand's tradition of cross-disciplinary experimentation, recalling the 'Pittura Ricamo' (Embroidery Painting) of the 1970s. Renato Balestra opened his first atelier in Rome in 1959 at Via Gregoriana 36, and presented his first Haute Couture Spring-Summer collection at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in 1961.