Balenciaga Appoints New Artistic Director

Balenciaga has appointed Demna Gvasalia as the new creative director to succeed Alexander Wang, who presented his last collection for the French fashion house during Paris Fashion Week on Oct. 2.

Balenciaga and its parent company, Kering, announced Wednesday that Gvasalia, who will begin his new role this week, will present his first collection for the brand in March during PFW.

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Gvasalia will continue to work on Vetements — a design collective that was one of eight finalists nominated for LVMH’s Young Fashion Designer Prize this year — while heading up Balenciaga. Before launching Vetements in 2014, the Georgian designer served as the senior designer at Louis Vuitton (from 2012 to 2014) and Maison Martin Margiela (2009-2012).

Earlier today, The Cut‘s critic-at-large Cathy Horyn tweeted, “Demna Gvasalia of Vetements denies he’s the next designer at Balenciaga but that’s the buzz tonight in Paris.” Looks like the rumors were true after all.

See more Balenciaga’s Alexander Wang Looks Back at 5 Red Carpet Moments

Wang and Balenciaga confirmed in July that they would be parting ways, as the 31-year-old designer focuses on his own eponymous label. Wang was most recently featured on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Top 25 Red Carpet Designers of 2015, posing with Nicole Kidman on one of four covers for the issue.