For the past few months, Nicolas Ghesquière has been battling in court with his former employers at Balenciaga over comments he made in an interview last year to System magazine about working for the house. It was the first interview Ghesquière had done since his exit and he explained that part of his reason for leaving was because he was feeling drained from the bureaucracy at the label. “I began to feel as though I was being sucked dry, like they wanted to steal my identity while trying to homogenise things,” he famously said. The folks at Balenciaga didn’t take too kindly to his words and filed suit against Ghesquière, claiming his disparaging comments were damaging to the house. Balenciaga was seeking $9.4 million in damages (€7 million).
Now, it looks like Balenciaga and Ghesquière are ready to sit down and talk about their problems like grown-ups. WWD reports that the dueling parties are going to try and resolve the issue with mediation. Balenciaga initially filed suit claiming that Ghesquière’s comments hurt the brand image, but Ghesquière’s people argued that the designer’s words were speaking more to the unfortunate conditions of the industry, as opposed to the fashion house itself.
The court was scheduled to rule on the case today. Hopefully, the fashion house and the designer can settle their differences.
[via WWD]
