Nicolas Ghesquiere to leave Balenciaga

Balenciaga is to part ways with its star creative director, Nicolas

Ghesquiere. Ghesquiere has been at the helm of the fashion house since 1997.

Ghesquière and the brand have stated that they made a "joint decision to end their working relationship," which will end on November 30, reports WWD.

The designer has been widely credited with bringing the brand huge levels of commercial and industry acclaim and opening the label to a new, wider audience.

Balenciaga opened his Paris couture house on Avenue George V in August 1937, and his first runway show featured designs heavily influenced by the Spanish Renaissance. Balenciaga's success in Paris was nearly immediate. Within two years, the French press lauded him as a revolutionary, and his designs were highly sought-after.

A successor has yet to be announced.