Balenciaga will return to Haute Couture for the first time in over 50 years

Balenciaga is returning to its roots.

The French fashion house announced the brand will be joining the couture calendar in July 2020 for the first time in 52 years, since Cristobal Balenciaga shut down his eponymous Paris atelier in 1968.

“Haute couture is the very foundation of this house, so it is my creative and visionary duty to bring couture back. For me, couture is an unexplored mode of creative freedom and a platform for innovation. It not only offers another spectrum of possibilities in dressmaking, it also brings the modern vision of Balenciaga back to its sources of origin," creative director, Demna Gvasalia, explained in a statement.

Since joining the label in 2015, Gvasalia has transformed the brand into a luxury streetwear pioneer, producing a slew of hits each season, such as the "Triple S" chunky sole sneakers and logo-centric wool blanket scarves. However, this upcoming fall collection will mark the 38-year old designer's first stint as a couturier.

Balenciaga's spring/summer 2020 ready-to-wear collection embodied elements of couture-like construction and is perhaps a sneak peek of what's to come. The finale of billowing ball gowns in metallic lamé paid tribute to Cristóbal Balenciaga’s heritage of sculptural creations.

"Ballroom dresses go back to the beginning of Balenciaga, when he started in Spain. It was mostly this type of silhouette he did, from Spanish painting. But we wanted to make sure they’re wearable. If you take out the crinoline, you have a sort of Goth dress to wear," Gvasalia explained.

Gvasalia, who left Vetements last year after founding the high-street brand in 2014, was previously running the women's wear department at Maison Martin Margiela in 2009 before he was appointed to senior designer at Louis Vuitton.