Francois-henri Pinault - Alexander Wang will take Balenciaga to next level

Alexander Wang will take Balenciaga to next level

Francois-henri Pinault wants Alexander Wang to continue to build the Balenciaga brand.

The designer was recently named as the French fashion house's creative director, taking over from Nicolas Ghesquiere, and Francois-Henri knows they have chosen the right person.

The CEO and chairman of PPR - who own Balenciaga - said: ''We want to continue to build. We decided that with Nicolas it was time to separate our path. After 15 years, it was quite a noble decision. We were looking at who could take on the helm for the brand's creative. The way we do it we really spent time understanding who is, not what is, the brand - the human being. And we wanted to really continue what has been built by Nicolas. Alexander Wang is young and he has a very universal culture. He is American with Chinese roots. His family is based in Shanghai. He has a very strong talent not only when it comes to accessible product, but his talent could also be adapted for couture at Balenciaga. It will be a big challenge for him.''

Francis-Henri thinks Alexander will be able to expand the brand more because he is based in New York.

He told WWD: ''I like that he's young and based in New York, so we will have more exposure of the brand worldwide. Alexander has this wonderful contemporary brand under his own name and this has nothing to do with Balenciaga. We will not change anything in the positioning [of the Balenciaga brand.] We have spent a lot of time determining where the brand is and where we want to stay in terms of being very modern and avant-garde, but still being influenced by the street. Nicolas was one of the best at this.''