Well, the rumors of Alexander Wang’s demise at Balenicaga have not been greatly exaggerated. The historic Parisian house and the noted fashion wunderkind have officially parted ways.
Balenciaga named Wang their new creative director back in November 2012 and in an evenhanded statement released today, the brand thanked the 31-year-old for “his important contribution to the style and history of this iconic house” as well as “the dynamic growth of the brand over the last years.”
Wang, who still has his eponymous and perennially cool brand, is apparently sans sour grapes, adding:
It’s been an incredible experience to work with a couture house in Paris. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work for this historical maison. I would like to thank the brilliant team at Balenciaga for their collaboration and for what we have accomplished together, and I am looking forward to taking my own brand to its next level of growth.
Balenciaga promised that a new creative director “will be announced in due course” with Wang’s last collection, Spring 2016, showing this fall.
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While Wang was an unlikely choice to follow in the gigantic footsteps of Nicolas Ghesquière, he certainly gave the storied house a more youthful flair. Balenciaga could either continue trying to liven things up or choose someone with more experience running an international brand. Meanwhile, I hear Marc Jacobs is free.
Les Fabian Brathwaite — hanging out with my Wangin’ out.
Ronbo
Hey Lez, my Kmart manager just quit. Run him down and get a quote. Try to work “eponymous” and “maison” into the story.
Kangol
I love this girl’s clothes and think his personal line is fabulous, but he was a poor followup to Nicolas Ghesquière, who is a futuristic visionary. Those last few Balenciaga collections of Ghesquière’s, featuring the laser cut, space-age fabrics, were years ahead of their time.
Wang never designed a single thing for Balenciaga that came close. Now the house–er, maison–will have to find another stand-in to design outfits for the billionaire class. Wang, meanwhile, can go do his thang.