It’s official: After a few days of unconfirmed reports, Balenciaga has just sent out a press release naming Alexander Wang the new creative director of Balenciaga, replacing Nicolas Ghesquière.
![Report: Alexander Wang In at Balenciaga [Updated]](http://fashionista.com/uploads/2012/11/wang1-640x420.jpg)
After initial reports that Christopher Kane would succeed Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, followed by Kane’s departure from Versus, followed by reports that Balenciaga’s parent company PPR was looking to invest in Kane’s eponymous label, it seemed likely that Kane was the front-runner for the Balenciaga gig, despite his statement that the rumors were “unfounded.”
But early last night we got word from a reliable source that Alexander Wang–whose name was tossed into the ring for the Dior job as well as the Balenciaga job–would be named the new creative director of Balenciaga in around a week’s time. And since the New York Times‘ Cathy Horyn is also reporting that Wang is the leading candidate to replace Ghesquière according to a Paris source “with knowledge of the discussions,” it seems pretty damn likely that he’s in.
Today in news to keep those Christopher Kane/Balenciaga rumors alive: WWD is reporting that, according to sources, “PPR has held discussions with Christopher Kane about financial backing for the fledgling firm.”
The day after PPR announced Balenciaga’s split with the brand’s creative director of 15 years, Nicolas Ghesquière, there are of course already rumors circulating about who might replace him.
News of Nicolas Ghesquiere’s departure from Balenciaga seemed to surprise everyone from Style.com, whose feature about him in their new print magazine offers no real clues, to Cathy Horyn, who just offered up some insight as to why Ghesquière may have decided to leave.
While Ghesquière declined comment, Horyn spoke to “a number of individuals, who requested anonymity because of their dealings with PPR,” who confirmed speculation that Ghesquière has been frustrated with Balenciaga and PPR.
Nicolas Ghesquière, one of the most critically acclaimed and influential designers working today, is leaving his post as creative director of Balenciaga.
Balenciaga parent company PPR just announced that Balenciaga and Ghesquière have made the “joint decision to end their working relationship as of 30 November 2012.”
Could this be a white flag in the on-going dispute between designer Hedi Slimane and critic Cathy Horyn?
Slimane has removed all his tweets about Cathy Horyn, including the original open letter. There is no explanation left in it’s place, so we’re left to wonder what motivated the designer to delete them at all.
PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault responds to Slimane’s critics, including Cathy Horyn. This story will never end!
PPR has just partnered with luxury ecommerce site Yoox.com, to launch a new online platform–PPR will own 51%, Yoox 49%–that will sell the conglomerate’s brands Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga and Sergio Rossi internationally. The decision to do so is part of CEO Francois Henri Pinault‘s push to get all of PPR’s Read more →
The three-year-long Gucci v. Guess trademark infringement debacle finally came to an end this week in the US, with Gucci awarded the relatively low settlement of $4.7 million in damages (compared to the requested $221 million). But it’s not over yet: WWD is reporting that Gucci is apparently planning to file new brand protection cases in Italy, China, and France. So this is going to drag out for a long time.
But the case has been raising a lot of questions.
The child support fight between supermodel Linda Evangelista and her baby daddy, PPR’s chief executive (and Mr. Salma Hayek), François-Henri Pinault, is shaping up to be really ugly. The New York Daily News has a lot of the details about Evangelista’s over-the-top lifestyle and her child support demands, which, if she wins, could be record-breaking.
In case you forgot, the duo dated from September 2005 thru January 2006 (which is, you know, not a very long time) and Evangelista was pregnant when they broke up. Evangelista didn’t reveal the paternity of her child, Augie, until she filed court papers against Pinault for child support this past summer. And now she’s really going for it.
The NYDN is reporting that Evangelista is asking for a whopping $46,000 a month in child support payments. To put that into perspective, the previous New York state child support payment record is held by Diddy, who shells out $19,000 a month to the mother of his kid. So why exactly does she need that much money?
All is not well in the lap of luxury.
PPR, the french conglomerate which owns several luxury brands, hit a rough patch in the market yesterday, when Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock because of concerns regarding their Gucci and Puma units, Bloomberg is reporting.
Morgan Stanley said they worried Gucci would underperform luxury peers in 2012 and that the “continued challenges at Puma” would affect profitability.
