Spider Silk and Origami Suits Lead Balenciaga into a High Tech Spring 2026

Balenciaga is officially trading traditional tailoring for a laboratory coat this season. For the Spring 26 collection, the House has teamed up with Kering’s Material Innovation Lab to drop two massive tech flexes: bioengineered silk and 3D-woven “origami” suiting. It’s a move that proves Demna isn’t just interested in oversized hoodies and viral accessories—he’s looking to fundamentally rewrite how luxury clothes are actually made.

First up is a history-making partnership with Munich-based startup AMSilk. Balenciaga is the first fashion house to use this fossil-fuel-free silk alternative, which is essentially “brewed” in a bioreactor. Scientists used a spider’s genome as a blueprint to engineer microorganisms that produce lab-grown proteins. These are spun into a yarn that looks and feels like traditional silk but is way more elastic and wrinkle-resistant. The environmental stats are even more impressive: it uses 97% less water and emits 81% less CO2 than the conventional stuff. You can find it in the collection as a fluid wrap shirt and shirtdress that are vegan, cruelty-free, and entirely microplastic-free.

But the real “brain-melt” moment comes from the collaboration with Weffan, a startup that has figured out how to weave a 3D garment directly on a loom. Instead of cutting flat fabric and sewing it together, Balenciaga’s new single-breasted jacket and pleated trousers are “reverse-engineered.” The pattern and structure are embedded into the fabric during the weaving stage on upgraded jacquard looms. Once it comes off the loom, the fabric is unfolded like a piece of high-fashion origami into a three-dimensional form.

This 3D-weaving process doesn’t just look cool with its distinctive woven seams; it drastically reduces offcut waste and manufacturing time. It’s a future-proof alternative to traditional tailoring that merges software-driven design with old-school finishing techniques. Both the AMSilk pieces and the Weffan suiting are now hitting select Balenciaga stores and their website, marking a point where “Couture standards” finally meet “Silicon Valley” solutions.