Nicolas Ghesquière Says Goodbye To Balenciaga

Balenciaga would not be the iconic fashion powerhouse we see today without it’s creative director, Nicolas Ghesquière. Or should I say former creative director as he announced yesterday that he was leaving the French label after 15 years.

The label had enjoyed a brief period of success in the 1960’s, with founder Cristóbal Balenciaga shutting it down in 1968, four years before his death. In 1986, the label was back and with a new ready-to-wear line. What followed were a string of average collections, not matching the brand’s earlier successes.

In 1995, at just 25 years of age, a self-taught Ghesquière was placed at the helm of Balenciaga. His arrival was a breath of fresh air for the label after with his innovative and unique take on minimalistic.

With his Fall 2005 collection, Ghesquière made Balenciaga profitable and brought the brand commercial success along with a celebrity following including Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of US Vogue.

The Frenchman transformed the luxury brand into the fastest-growing label within the Gucci Group in 2009 – at the tail-end of the Global Financial Crisis no less.

So the question lies: who will be next to head the luxury fashion label? Well whoever they are, they have some huge shoes to fill.

Image: Fashion Bomb Daily