Behind the Balenciaga Split
By CATHY HORYN
On the face of it, Nicolas Ghesquière’s departure from Balenciaga, announced today, seems to give credence to speculation that he was frustrated with the direction of the house and management by its parent company, PPR.
Mr. Ghesquière declined to comment when reached by phone. But according to a number of individuals, who requested anonymity because of their dealings with PPR, Mr. Ghesquière’s frustrations go back at least a year and involve matters like financing and a more commercial tone to some of Balenciaga’s lines. He may have also felt, these individuals said, that his concerns were being insufficiently addressed by the PPR chairman, François-Henri Pinault.
A source of ire may have also been the unusual freedom that Hedi Slimane was given as the new creative director of Saint Laurent, also owned by PPR, even though Mr. Slimane had been inactive in design for about five years and had not done a women’s collection. He was allowed to change the corporate logo and store designs and remain in Los Angeles, commuting as needed to Paris.
Mr. Ghesquière may have disagreed with these kinds of decisions as a matter of principle. Obviously Saint Laurent’s operations didn’t directly affect him, but Balenciaga is part of the same group.
Mr. Ghesquière was 23 when he joined Balenciaga in the mid ’90s on the licensing side of the company, owned at the time by Jacques Konckier. One of his jobs was to design funeral clothes for the Japanese market. In 1997, he was made chief designer, and largely through his own efforts and ideas, created a modern Balenciaga based on a skinny, nervous, cool silhouette. Without really looking at the archive, he drew influence from Cristobal Balenciaga’s Spanish world. He created an influential collection based on wedding dresses. For another show, he made soft, pale green cargo pants. They were widely copied.
Around 2001, after Balenciaga was acquired by Gucci Group, Mr. Ghesquière began to feel tension with Domenico de Sole and Tom Ford, running the group at the time. By the fall of 2003 he considered quitting, he revealed subsequently in an interview. But then, Mr. de Sole and Mr. Ford lost their jobs, and Mr. de Sole was replaced by Robert Polet, hired in the summer of 2004. Although Mr. Polet had no luxury-goods experience, he proved to be an effective manager. He certainly recognized Mr. Ghesquière’s difficulties. Mr. Ghesquière also seems to have a warm relationship with both Mr. Pinault and his father, François Pinault.
In a 2005 interview, Mr. Polet said: “You had someone who wasn’t in sync with his environment, the environment wasn’t appreciating what he did, and he was distinctly unhappy as a reaction.”
Over the next number of years Mr. Ghesquière staged some of his most dynamic Balenciaga shows. The brand also expanded and became profitable.
The reaction to Mr. Ghesquière’s spring 2013 collection, shown in October, was so strong that he was singled out for a profile in the latest issue of Style.com/Print. In the article by Jo-Ann Furniss, under the headline, “Leader of the Pack,” there is no indication of his unhappiness at the house, but Mr. Ghesquière does give the impression of starting a new chapter in his work at Balenciaga, without fear of making a change after 15 years.
“That’s the thing in fashion,” he is quoted as saying, “because if you do not move, then you are dead.”
Mr. Ghesquière’s relationship with the company’s management may have changed in 2011, when Mr. Polet resigned from Gucci Group and Mr. Pinault took charge, using the parent name PPR.
Mr. Pinault has to demonstrate, among other things, that he can revive Saint Laurent under his watch. And now he has lost one of his stars. As Vanessa Friedman noted today in the Financial Times, it was somewhat curious that PPR didn’t attempt to counterbalance the Ghesquière departure with news of its own — such as who the company has lined up for a successor. There is certain to be an onslaught of buzz about that.
In response to an e-mail question about Mr. Ghesquière’s departure, Lionel Vermeil, the spokesman for Balenciaga, sent the following statement: “Clearly the tradition of high creativity, coming from Cristobal Balenciaga’s time, will be perpetuated, and the future of Balenciaga will not be mainstream and will remain faithful to the DNA of the house and its creative principles.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Ghesquière could wind up doing something with LVMH (there is already talk about that), or just take a little break.
