We Speak Fashion

Bianca Balti Opens Venice With Wings: A Pink Couture Statement on the Lido

Published

2 months ago

September 4, 2026

Venice opened with wings. The 83rd Venice International Film Festival began on September 2, 2026 on the Lido, and Italian supermodel Bianca Balti walked the opening-ceremony red carpet in a candy-floss pink gown by Ilya Migmoon, worn with matching angel wings and Bvlgari jewels. ELLE Canada placed the look in its top ten of the entire festival — a remarkable hold for a night-one arrival at a ten-day event, and a sign of how completely the image defined the opening.

The gown’s power was in its engineering rather than its embellishment. In a pastel-pink palette, the silhouette carried a sculptural, wing-like structure built into the shoulders and back — architectural volume instead of heavy decoration. The combination was the statement: a soft, romantic color cut into a sharp, engineered shape, with the wings extending the line of the dress from portrait ornament into full silhouette.

Fashion Times’ opening coverage noted that Balti’s look set the tone for an opening ceremony that favored dramatic construction over traditional red-carpet glamour. The company underlined the shift: Stella Maxwell arrived in a sheer black lace gown with a cascading back drape, Nina Dobrev chose archival Armani Privé, and jury president Maggie Gyllenhaal changed into Celine for the evening. Against that field, Balti’s pink construction was the image the night kept.

The wider frame made it land harder still. TheWrap characterized Venice 2026’s carpet overall as more muted and serious than recent editions — which is precisely why an engineered pink statement, arriving on night one from an Italian model at Italy’s own festival, cut through. The casting of the moment mattered too: an Italian supermodel, jewels from Bvlgari, and a gown built like sculpture made the opening’s defining image unmistakably Venice’s own. Festivals are remembered by their opening image; this year, the Lido’s was pink, winged and built like architecture.

We Speak Fashion

L’Oréal Powers Past the Beauty Market: €35.33 Billion in Nine Months as Salon and Derm Brands Lead

Published

4 days ago

October 22, 2026

We Speak Media

The world’s largest beauty company is growing faster than the market it leads. L’Oréal reported sales of €35.33 billion for the first nine months of 2026, up 6.9% like-for-like and 7.7% as reported, in a statement released on October 22. Third-quarter sales reached €11.56 billion, up 7.2% like-for-like.

CEO Nicolas Hieronimus called it “an exceptional third quarter,” saying the global beauty market “once again proved its resilience” and that L’Oréal “continued to significantly outpace it” — company commentary put the wider market’s growth at roughly 5% for the quarter.

The quarter’s heavy lifting came from the group’s two professional-facing divisions. Professional Products — home to Kérastase, Redken and L’Oréal Professionnel — sold €1,469.1 million in Q3, up 12.1% like-for-like, while Dermatological Beauty (La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals) sold €1,871.6 million, up 12.2%. L’Oréal Luxe added €4,176.6 million (+6.4%) and Consumer Products €4,044.3 million (+4.3%), as fragrances and haircare drove growth, skincare continued to accelerate, and e-commerce sales grew around 17% — well ahead of the online beauty market.

The brand highlights told the same story. Kérastase grew double-digit, powered by Gloss Absolu, Genesis and Chronologiste; La Roche-Posay launched Mela B3 Double-Dose and Anthelios UV Air; Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre and MYSLF fragrances grew double-digit; and the newly acquired fragrance house Creed performed strongly.

Regionally, SAPMENA-SSA was the standout at +19.2% like-for-like, followed by Europe at +9.9% and North Asia at +7.8%; North America grew 2.2% (5.6% adjusted), and Latin America was the only region to decline, down 1.0%. During the period L’Oréal also closed its acquisition of a majority stake in Innovist, a digital-first Indian personal care house of brands — a results statement that underlines a simple point: at €35 billion in nine months, L’Oréal is not just leading the beauty business, it is widening the gap.