Wang & Balenciaga Brokeup: the Story Continues...

After weeks of rumors of a split, Balenciaga’s parent company Kering has confirmed that designer Alexander Wang and the famed Parisian fashion house have decided not to renew Wang’s contract as Creative Director “by mutual decision.” Wang’s final collection for the house will be his spring/summer 2016 collection showing October 2 in Paris.

San Francisco-born Wang, 31, has proven one of the most innovative designers of the Millennial generation in his work for his eponymous label, which was launched in 2007. Since the beginning of his career Wang has enjoyed immense popularity both within the fashion industry (he won CFDA, Swarovski, GQ and Swiss textile awards in the years following his collection’s debut) and with celebrity fans of the brand including Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Kate Moss and Kim Kardashian.

The designer is credited with helping bring new fabrications and techniques to the mainstream and pushing the creative envelope, from using laser-cut logos that imitated lace to being among the first to bring sports fabrications into women’s wear.

His fall 2014 collection memorably featured color-changing, heat-sensitive outerwear, and he was well received by critics in spring 2015 with a collection entirely inspired by classic sneakers. A brisk-selling 2014 capsule collection with retailer H&M was heavy with “Health Goth” subculture influences and rocketed the term into fashion mainstream. His fall 2015 collection built on the goth aesthetic further with a primarily black palette embellished with punk studs and chain-mail.

T by Alexander Wang, a less expensive line, debuted for women in 2009 and for men the following year.

In contrast, his work for Balenciaga received a much cooler response from critics.  Wang’s work for Balenciaga was far more reserved than that for his own label; his spring 2015 heavily drawing on the cocooned, rounded silhouettes of the house’s founder.
Wang’s tenure at Balenciaga began in 2012 after he succeeded designer Nicholas Ghesquiere, who left after fifteen years to take the reigns at Louis Vuitton from Marc Jacobs. A statement released by Kering and Balenciaga offered no reasons for the split and reads in part:

“Since 2012, Alexander Wang has stood at the creative helm of the maison and has been instrumental in the pursuit of its development. With his proven talent and his irreverent, modern vision of design, Alexander Wang has brought a new impetus to the brand.”

In a statement of his own, Wang said: “It’s been an incredible experience to work with a couture house in Paris. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to work for this historical maison,” Wang also said he is “looking forward to taking my own brand to its next level of growth.” Balenciaga has not announced a replacement for the designer at this time.

After attending Wang’s shows for his own label in New York for several seasons it’s exciting to hear he’s renewing his focus there and looking to expand. While his time at Balenciaga did expose him to the famed archives of the founder (a gift for any designer), Wang’s own collection has always been where he’s shown the most future-looking point of view. It will be exciting to see what Wang shows in New York this February following his final Balenciaga collection in the fall: Perhaps the singular focus will allow Wang to create another collection as technically surprising as his fall 2014, where even industry veterans were visibly dazzled by his color changing finale.