FASHION Magazine

It’s officially official. Balenciaga has issued a press release stating that Alexander Wang will take on the role of creative director of the fashion house, succeeding Nicolas Ghesquière, making last week’s rumours a reality.

“I am deeply honored to embark on this new role for a brand and house that I have such great admiration and respect for,” said Alexander Wang in the press release. His new role at Balenciaga will include designing women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, accessories and maintaining the house’s image. His first collection for the almost 100-year-old house will be for Fall 2013—which is only a few months away. Wang’s role at his eponymous label will not change.

The rumour mill has steadily been churning since the announcement of Nicolas Ghesquière’s departure from Balenciaga. Effective tomorrow, the seat of the creative director will officially be vacant, but as of today it seems that Alexander Wang has pulled ahead of the bunch and is the front-runner for the position.

According to the French newspaper, Nouvel Observator, Wang has emerged as the shoo-in for the job, and this statement was followed up by, New York Times writer, Cathy Horyn—who was one of the first to break the news about Ghesquiere’s departure—in an article that said the announcement of Wang’s new role at Balenciaga could come as early as next week.

Just following the success of his recent Spring 2013 show in Paris, it has been announced today that Nicolas Ghesquière is to leave Balenciaga. According to WWD, the designer, who has been creative director of the French brand for 15 years, confirmed today that they have made a “joint decision to end their working relationship”, […]

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We’ve been longing for some spectacular—as in, spectacle-laden—fashion since the days of Alexander McQueen’s Widows of Culloden hologram and Galliano’s snow tunnel. And then came McQ’s Fall 2012 finale starring model and actress Kristen McMenamy (all masterfully caught on video).

The grey-haired fashion doyenne (with her tresses in what we can only describe as a cross between a ‘50s pin-up ‘do and a Twister bagel) closed the show in a white tulle wedding gown. But in true McQueen style, McMenamy does so much more than just strut down the runway; she discovers a rope hidden in the floor and artfully prances around follows it.

As she reaches the end of the catwalk, the brick wall disappears only to be replaced by 60 real-life trees straight out of Harry Potter’s Forbidden Forest (we literally gasped) and a little cottage with pulsing lights and techno music. Now that’s our kind of rave.

We think this is a brilliant PR move for the lesser-known brand, which has been trying to realign itself with its eponymous big sister since the two recoupled in 2010. Both Sarah Burton and François Pinault (chief executive of McQueen’s parent company PPR and, more famously, Salma Hayek’s husband) have acknowledged that they are trying to elevate McQ to new sartorial heights. And wow, have they ever succeeded.

Canadian-born supermodel Linda Evangelista once said she’d never wake up for less than $10,000 a day. Now, she’s asking for $46,000 a month—in child support. The father of Evangelista’s four-year-old son, Augustin, is François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of the luxury conglomerate PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta. His family is worth an estimated $11.5 billion, while Evangelista is worth about $8 million.

How can Evangelista justify demanding such a large sum? While Pinault and his wife, Salma Hayek, have a daughter, Valentina, on whom Pinault spends about $50,000 a month for a $12-million estate held in trust in her name, he hasn’t paid Evangelista any support for Augustin.

Each year, $80,000 of Evangelista’s child support would go towards 24-hour nannies and $175,000 would go towards former police-detective drivers. New York Support Magistrate Matthew Troy was sympathetic to both the nanny and driver costs, but immediately nixed the $7,500 Evangelista was seeking for monthly vacation expenses.

Now, we wait for the verdict. Will Evangelista win as Pinault fights to keep as much of his fortune as possible? Either way, it looks like it’s going to cost the fashionable CEO a pretty penny.

By Renee Reardin and Meagan Wilson

Missing your Lauren Conrad fix—whether you’re willing to admit it or not? Take a peek at the intro that never was, from her cancelled reality show. [Angela+Ithyle]