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Nicolas Ghesquière

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Nicolas Ghesquière
Born (1971-05-09) 9 May 1971 (age 53)
Comines, Nord-Pas de Calais, France
NationalityFrance
LabelLouis Vuitton

Nicolas Ghesquière (French pronunciation: [ni.kɔ.lɑ ʒɛs.kjɛːʁ]; born 9 May 1971) is a French fashion designer who has been the creative director of the house of Louis Vuitton (owned by LVMH) since 2013.

Early life

Ghesquière was born in Comines, Nord, the younger of two sons of a Francophone Belgian golf-course owner and manager in the 7,500-inhabitant Poitevine town of Loudun and a French mother, who enjoyed fashion.[1] He grew up in Loudun, Vienne. From a young age, Ghesquière enjoyed and practiced sports, such as horse riding, fencing,[1] and swimming, and, in fact, many of his collections today use that inspiration, most notably his scuba mini dresses and his equestrian-inspired fall/winter 2006 ready-to-wear collection.

Reared in the small town of Loudun in western France's Poitevin-speaking area, at a young age Ghesquière announced at that he wanted to be a designer. He now admits this was partly from an adolescent desire to do something different from his parents and to alleviate country boredom. By the age of 12, Nicolas was sketching dress designs in his school books, making dresses out of his mother's curtains, and designing earrings out of his grandmother's chandelier crystals.

With the help of his father, Ghesquière put together a portfolio of drawings and sent it, along with a letter introducing himself, to several designers.[2] He diligently did internships during his school holidays. At 14, he assumed an internship with French designer agnès b, for which he was paid in clothes. His next apprenticeship was with Corinne Cobson. He decided afterward that fashion was difficult and returned home to finish his schooling.

Career

After graduating from high school at age 18, Ghesquière turned down a place at art school to work as an assistant to designer Jean-Paul Gaultier from 1990 to 1992.[3] He went on to work at Pôles, designing its knitwear line followed by a series of inauspicious assignments with different companies, including the Italian house of Callaghan.

Balenciaga

Through his contacts with Marie-Amélie Sauvé and Nathalie Marrec,[4] Ghesquière eventually landed a job doing the licensing for Paris fashion house Balenciaga and designing for the Asian market. At that time, Balenciaga had had limited success since the 1970s and was owned by Groupe Jacques Bogart, whose management realized Ghesquière's talent when he designed a small collection for one of its Japanese licensees. (The label's founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga, died in 1972.) Ghesquière held, as he then described it, "what many would call the worst position in fashion," designing suits and funeral clothes under a Balenciaga licence for Japan.

In 1997, at the young age of 25, Ghesquière was the surprise choice to head Balenciaga,[5] promoted to creative director of Balenciaga after his Dutch predecessor Josephus Thimister was fired following a highly unsuccessful show. In this capacity, he was put in charge of the brand's entire image, from clothing and accessories to store design and advertising.[6] Following his appointment, he had less than four months to design the spring-summer 1998 collection from scratch.[7]

While working as the label's creative director, Ghesquière continued to design two Italian collections — Trussardi, then Callaghan — until 2001.[7] Callaghan's Spring 2001 Ready-to-Wear show was the first ever in New York for the then 35-year-old fashion house, and also served as the US debut for Ghesquière.[8]

At Balenciaga, Ghesquière soon became known for his sense of contrast, such as pairing high-waisted skinny pants with a voluminous blouson or a tightly cut wool jumpsuit with billowing sleeves. His work soon turned Balenciaga into a critically acclaimed fashion house.[5] His biggest commercial success was the Lariat bag,[9] with braided handles and dangling zipper pulls. An aspect of the designer's devotion to the house's legacy was his respect for Cristóbal Balenciaga's original design concepts. However, even though the Balenciaga archives are stored in Ghesquière's atelier, he was only able to gain entry to the locked room by special appointment with an off-site custodian. Throughout his time at Balenciaga, Ghesquière continuously collaborated with the same artists, particularly French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster – who worked with Ghesquière on the design of every Balenciaga boutique[10] – and stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé. He has additionally cited actress Charlotte Gainsbourg as an influence during his time at the company.[11] At the same time, he launched the careers of several models, including Kirstin Liljegren.[12]

The Gucci Group (PPR) bought Balenciaga in 2001. Ghesquière, who wanted to stay and expand Balenciaga, could only be bought through the house. "It is a happy relationship," Ghesquière said. "It has worked because they wanted me to explain what I wanted to do with Balenciaga, not the other way around." Ghesquière's collections have had a considerable commercial impact, particularly through his influence on other designers, including his former staff members Julien Dossena, Camille Miceli, and Natacha Ramsay-Levi.[1] During his 15-year tenure at Balenciaga, Ghesquière is widely credited with having helped turn the fashion label into one of the fastest-growing and most profitable brands of parent PPR.[13] During that time, he assembled one of the largest production teams in Paris with upwards of 30 people in the design studio and 50 in the fabrication ateliers.[10] In November 2012, PPR announced his departure from Balanciaga.[5][14][15]

Louis Vuitton

On 4 November 2013, Ghesquière officially replaced Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton as creative director for the women's collections.[5] Some of his first designs for Louis Vuitton debuted on the red carpet, as worn by the actress Jennifer Connelly.[9][16] On 5 March 2014, Ghesquière had his first show under the LV brand.[17] In 2018, LVMH renewed Ghesquière's contract as artistic director of the women's collections.[18][19]

Since joining Louis Vuiton, Ghesquière has regularly showcased his designs with shows in architectural landmarks including the Louvre in Paris – it was the first time the museum had allowed a fashion house to stage a show there –;[20] Monaco's Palace Square (2014);[21] Bob Hope’s house in Palm Springs (2016);[22] the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro (2016); the Miho Museum near Kyoto (2017);[18][23] Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence (2018);[24] and the TWA Flight Center (2019).[1]

Ghesquière designed a series of character skins for the video game League of Legends in 2019.[25]

Recognition

In October 2000, Ghesquière was named avant-garde designer of the year at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, and, a year later, he was named Womenswear Designer of the Year by the CFDA. In 2006, he was among the TIME 100 Most Influential People.[26] Ghesquière was described as "fashion's most sought-after and influential figure" by American Vogue and was also cited as the International Designer of the Year in 2014 by the British Fashion Awards.[citation needed]

Personal life

In his twenties, Ghesquière was in a seven-year relationship with Pierre Hardy.[27] Subsequently, he dated James Kaliardos, a makeup artist and cofounder of Visionaire, for eight years.[7] More recently, he was in relationships with fellow designer Julien Dossena[28] and blogger Pelayo Díaz.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Alice Gregory (October 18, 2019) Nicolas Ghesquière T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  2. ^ Ingrid Sischy (March 27, 2014), The Thriller at Vuitton Vanity Fair.
  3. ^ Jo Ellison (September 19, 2015), Nicolas Ghesquière Financial Times.
  4. ^ Steff Yotka (October 6, 2015), Meet the Collaborators and Muses Who Make Up Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton Squad Vogue.
  5. ^ a b c d Socha, Miles (4 November 2013). "Louis Vuitton Confirms Nicolas Ghesquière Hire". WWD. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  6. ^ Nadya Masidlover and Christina Passariello (November 4, 2013), Louis Vuitton Appoints Ghesquière as Creative Director Wall Street Journal.
  7. ^ a b c Alice Rawsthorn (March 1, 2011), The Change Agent W.
  8. ^ Cathy Horyn (September 23, 2000), Review/Fashion; What Will Women Want? Two Peeks New York Times.
  9. ^ a b Christina Passariello (November 5, 2014), Nicolas Ghesquière Innovates at the Legendary House of Louis Vuitton Wall Street Journal.
  10. ^ a b Pierre-Alexandre De Looz (October 17, 2013), The story of NICOLAS GHESQUIÈRE and how BALENCIAGA became 21st Century Fashion 032c.
  11. ^ 032c.com. "The story of NICOLAS GHESQUIÈRE and how BALENCIAGA became 21st Century Fashion". Retrieved 5 March 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Tamsin Blanchard (October 4, 2014), Ghesquière's girls: ‘Models are beautiful women and above all just women' The Daily Telegraph.
  13. ^ Astrid Wendlandt (November 4, 2013), Louis Vuitton names Ghesquiere as creative director for womenswear Reuters.
  14. ^ "Nicolas Ghesquière to Leave Balenciaga". The New York Times. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  15. ^ Astrid Wendlandt (November 5, 2012), PPR's Balenciaga loses artistic head Ghesquiere Reuters.
  16. ^ Nicolas Ghesquière Dresses Jennifer Connelly in Custom Vuitton Women's Wear Daily, March 27, 2014.
  17. ^ Socha, Miles (26 February 2014). "All Eyes on Nicolas Ghesquière's Debut at Louis Vuitton". WWD. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  18. ^ a b Joelle Diderich (May 23, 2018), Louis Vuitton and Nicolas Ghesquière Renew Contract Women's Wear Daily.
  19. ^ Pascale Denis (May 23, 2018), Louis Vuitton designer Ghesquiere signs new contract Reuters.
  20. ^ Jo Ellison (March 8, 2017), A night at the museum: Louis Vuitton goes to the Louvre Financial Times
  21. ^ Jacob Bernstein (May 19, 2014), Louis Vuitton Comes to Monaco, Celebrities in Tow New York Times.
  22. ^ Lisa Armstrong (May 7, 2015), Vuitton lands in Palm Springs in Bob Hope’s ‘spaceship’ house The Daily Telegraph.
  23. ^ Joelle Diderich (May 14, 2017), Louis Vuitton Hosts Cruise 2018 Show in Kyoto, Japan Women's Wear Daily.
  24. ^ Joelle Diderich (March 16, 2018), Louis Vuitton to Stage Cruise Show at Fondation Maeght Women's Wear Daily.
  25. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2019/10/29/this-is-what-louis-vuitton-looks-like-league-legends/
  26. ^ TIME 100: Nicolas Ghesquiere Kate Betts, May 8, 2006
  27. ^ Cathy Horyn (August 28, 2005), How Nicolas Got His Groove Back T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  28. ^ Alice Rawsthorn (March 24, 2014), Julien Dossena W.
  29. ^ Pilar Vidal (July 1, 2015), Pelayo Díaz y Nicolas Ghesquière han roto El Mundo.
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