The luxury brand Louis Vuitton has recently appointed a new creative director. In the fashion world, a creative director is the highest creative position in the fashion house. Their main role is to establish what designs should be created, what will appeal to the target audience and how the concepts will be reflected in the collaboration.
Louis Vuitton has picked Nicolas Ghesquière as its new creative director for women’s fashion. This is not Ghesquière’s first time being a creative director. Ghesquière was appointed to lead the house of Balenciaga in 1997, a very prestigious organization. On Vogue.com, Christian Dior called Cristóbal Balenciaga “the master of us all,” yet Ghesquière was talented enough to take on Balenciaga’s position.
At the age of 25, when he was handed the helm of Balenciaga, no one knew who he was but he successfully made a name for himself by expanding the brand’s commercial reach. His first internship at age fifteen at Agnès B was followed by another with the Parisian designer Corinne Cobson. Next, Ghesquière worked for Jean Paul Gaultier as an assistant for several years before going freelance. By 1995, he had found a job at Balenciaga, designing mourning clothes and golf outfits.
Two years later when creative director Josephus Thimister was departed, Ghesquière was promoted. He had positive feedback immediately, and he surely lived up to Cristóbal Balenciaga’s work. During his fifteen year tenure at Balenciaga, Ghesquière helped turn the fashion label into one of the fastest-growing and most profitable brands of parent Kering (the parent organization that owns the brands Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Gucci).
Louis Vuitton, on Vogue.com, said Ghesquière, “will bring a modern creative vision to the House’s women’s collections.”
Ghesquière, on Vogue.com, said, “Louis Vuitton has always represented for me the symbol of ultimate luxury, innovation and exploration.” The presentation of his first collection with the brand is set to be in March of 2014, and he will design Louis Vuitton’s ready-to-wear clothing and some of its fashion accessories. However, he will not be involved with permanent bag collection, such as the Neverfull, Speedy or the Capucines.
Louis Vuitton is one of the world’s biggest brands with nearly 500 stores located across the world and its “LV” logo on brown bags everywhere. How will Ghesquière shape the fortunes of the multibillion-dollar empire? I guess we just have to keep an eye out in the years to come.
By KAREN ZHENG
Staff Writer
