Does a Day Bag Have a Place in Haute Couture? Pierpaolo Piccioli Seems to Think So…

If you spent any time on the more unhinged side of fashion TikTok last fall, then it’s likely you came across the great Birkin debate of 2025, and if you didn’t, let me quickly fill you in.

Making the rounds last fall, following a video posted by itsme_apg, was the idea that a Birkin should never be worn after sunset. The creator explained further that a Birkin is your daily haul-all bag; it is for business meetings, for lunch, for brunch, etc.

A Birkin is not a nighttime bag and should never be worn for dinner.

The video went on to stress that wearing a Birkin in a setting like a fancy dinner or—gasp—a wedding signals one thing: the bag is your only nice bag. The fashion side of the internet collectively went wild, spawning reaction videos that ranged from agreement with the creator to vehement disagreement.

Pierpaolo Piccioli Makes a Case for the Couture Day Bag

Many in disagreement stressed that if you’re spending x amount of money on a bag, you should be able to wear it wherever and whenever you want. And while sure, you can, a larger bag (no matter the bag) does feel out of place in certain settings, but if you thought a day bag had no place in the incredible world of haute couture, you’d be wrong, at least according to Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Piccioli, who presented his first haute couture collection for Balenciaga yesterday, is here to not only rewrite Balenciaga’s codes but fashion rules altogether.

While haute couture shows typically either stray from including bags or show very few of them, Piccioli decided that a day bag—when given a couture touch—can earn its place in the world of haute couture.

While most couture shows include clutches or other small evening bags, if any at all, when Piccioli presented Balenciaga’s Fall 2026 couture show, he quickly smashed the idea that larger bags can’t be fancy, outfitting two of his looks with the most stunning iteration of the iconic Le City Bag we’ve ever seen.

The Le City Bag Gets a Couture Transformation

Balenciaga’s iconic Le City, which was first introduced in 2001, was designed by creative powerhouse Nicolas Ghesquière, who spent 15 years at the brand’s helm. The City Bag will forever be known as one of the most influential It bags in modern handbag history, remaining as relevant (and highly coveted) today as it was 25 years ago.

Under the direction of Pierpaolo Piccioli, Le City is having another major renaissance, and that renaissance is further expanded with the new couture-ified iteration of the iconic bag—proving that yes, a day bag does have its place after dark, if it’s done right.

This haute couture version of Le City, which debuted on the Fall 2026 couture runway, is covered in 40,000 eye-catching, glimmering Swarovski crystals, as detailed in the show notes: “Le City Bag Medium in shiny silver metal and rose gold crystal mesh.”

Any guesses in the comments on what the cost will be?