Out With The 'Old'

Earlier this year was the Galliano coup, we've seen Raf Simon move, Lagerfeld's achievements for Chanel, so as a fashion community, should we really be that worried about a brand? After all, they say change is good.

The debacle at hand is between laying our loyalty with Nicholas Ghesquiere who has brought a substantial amount of attention to Balenciaga, not to mention an increase in sales. Ghesquiere took a brand on the edge of failure per se, stamped it with his own flavour and cemented the integrity of the brand and more importantly, its aesthetic. Will Alexander Wang be able to fill the desert boots? 

Nicholas Ghesquiere started by designing for the Balenciaga Asian market before heading the house at the gobsmacking age of 25. Both Ghesquiere and Wang are both familiar with building a brand from the ground up and both share certain traits which makes me one of the more optimistic people with regards to Wang's appointment at Balenciaga. 

Power Dressing Designs

Ghesquiere and Wang are wizards at accentuating the female form, and all the while, making their ensembles edgy.

Both designers focused on cut-outs for Spring, ensuring that their designs showcased the best parts of a woman's body without being trashy. 

Alexander Wang

Balenciaga

More similarity can be found in Wang's more recent collections, where some of his designs have had the distinctly Balenciaga-esque billowing sleeve.

The Balenciaga Sleeve as seen at the Spring 2013 Runway Show

Alexander Wang's uncannily Balenciaga-esque sleeve for Spring 2013

Street Goes Haute

If there was one thing I had to choose that these designers have in common, it would without a doubt be their love and leaning toward street style, sporty vibes, and creating garments which work well off the runway.

Balenciaga's sci-fi tees that rocked the blogosphere

Alexander Wangs's Duffel loved by celebs and civilians alike

Grunge Chic

Ghesquiere leans toward creating rebellious designs rooted in LSD colours, and this may clash somewhat with Wang's love for anti-colour. Regardless of their palettes though, both designers have a love for the grunge-chic look and have created street-style masterpieces in the process. 

Celeb Backing

Ghesquiere has become the designer behind Kristen Stewart's better fashion encounters and Wang has a cult-like following of celebs, even in menswear (YouTube his Fall 2012 campaign video with the likes of Diplo, Penn Badgely and A$AP Rocky)

Rihanna for Alexander Wang

Kristen Stewart for Nicholas Ghesquiere