Nicolas Ghesquiere Opens Up About His Balenciaga Departure
After months of silence, Nicolas Ghesquière opened up in an interview with System Magazine about why he left Balenciaga. The Business of Fashion got an exclusive excert of the interview done by Jonathan Wingfield. In the interview, Ghesquière discusses his thoughts and impressions about the current state of the fashion industry and what the future holds.
Below is an excerpt from The Business of Fashion. To read the entire article, click here.
At what point into the job at Balenciaga did you realise you needed to wise up to the business side of the brand?
NG: Straight away. It's part of being a creative because the vision you have ends up in the stores. It actually makes me smile today when I think about it because it was me who had to invent the concept of being commercial at Balenciaga. Right from the start I wanted it to be commercial, but the first group who owned the house didn't have the first notion of commerce; there was no production team. There was nothing.
What was your vision for the brand?
NG: For me, Balenciaga has a history that is just as important as that of Chanel, even if it's a lesser-known name. It had the modernity, it was contemporary, and I've always positioned it as a little Chanel or Prada.
But what makes Chanel and Prada bigger structures?
NG: The people that surround the designers. Miuccia Prada has an extraordinary partner, whereas I was doing everything by myself.
So without the right people, building something as big as a Chanel or Prada is unimaginable?
NG: I don't know if it's impossible, maybe the system will change, but what's clear is that those brands have family and partners surrounding them, and they have creative carte blanche. Prada, for example, has made this model where you can be a business and an opinion leader at the same time, which is totally admirable. It's the same thing at Chanel. Sadly, I never had that. I never had a partner, and I ended up feeling too alone. I had a marvellous studio and design team who were close to me, but it started becoming a bureaucracy and gradually became more corporate, until it was no longer even linked to fashion. In the end, it felt as though they just wanted to be like any other house.
At the time when you were starting to feel that frustration, did you talk to any other designers who were in the same situation?
NG: Yes. What's interesting is how my split from Balenciaga has encouraged people to get in touch with me, and they've said, 'Me too, I'm in the same situation. I want to leave too.' There are others, but my situation at Balenciaga was very particular.
In spite of the increasingly stifling conditions you felt you were operating in, were you nonetheless scared by the prospect of leaving Balenciaga?
NG: I just said to myself, 'Okay, well you have to leave, you have to cut the cord.' But I didn't say anything to anyone, apart from to a few very close people, because, you know, I've become pretty good at standing on my own two feet.
Once you'd decided enough was enough and you made your intentions clear, was management surprised that you wanted to leave?
NG: Yes. I think so, because I'd shown my ambitions for the house. There'd been lots of discussions, of course, and there were clearly some differences, but that sort of decision doesn't just come out of nowhere. I'd been thinking a lot too. I was having trouble sleeping at one point. [Laughs] But there's usually something keeping me awake.
After the announcement, did lots of people in the fashion world contact you?
NG: I didn't actually see all the reactions straight away because I was in Japan at the time; one of my best friends had taken me on something of a spiritual trip to observe people who make traditional lacquer and obi belts; it was such a privileged environment with tea ceremonies. On the other side of the world, there was this violent announcement being made. When I got back to Paris I saw the press, and with all the commentary going on I actually learnt things about myself; it was quite beautiful in fact. Generally the reaction had been very positive, even on Twitter there were some very satisfactory things being written. Ultimately, I felt okay in the end because it seemed very dignified. I haven't expressed myself up until now, but I would like to say thank you to everyone, I really am very grateful.
Did you ever think about making a personal announcement?
NG: No, I never wanted to express myself like that. I don't know how to do that.
What's the most exciting thing about this period of time for you?
NG: Preparing for the next chapter and having the time to observe what's going on in the industry. People could have forever associated me with Balenciaga. We saw clearly when the split took place that there was a desire for my name, so I disassociated myself naturally from the house. That could have been a risk. It would have been different if Balenciaga had disassociated itself from me, but people had seen me develop my signature and knew that it might happen. That's exciting because whatever choice I make, the possibilities are open, and that was confirmed with the freeing of my name from Balenciaga. I'd made so much effort and been such a good obedient kid in associating myself... Now I can imagine a whole new vocabulary. I'm regenerating again, and that's very exciting because it's a feeling I haven't had since I was in my twenties.
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