BUSINESS OF FASHION – BALENCIAGA VS. NICOLAS GHESQUIERE TRIAL DATE SET IN PARIS

A couple of days ago the trial date was set for Balenciaga's lawsuit against Nicolas Ghesquière for breach of contract. The business of fashion is a complex game and the Goss-IPgirl has been intrigued by this case, which involves an action for breach of confidentiality after the he spoke negatively about the fashion house in a magazine interview.

Nicholas, now the new creative director of LMVH, was at the top of the French fashion house Balenciaga for 15 years, when the brand announced last year that Nicolas Ghesquière was leaving. Revealing his reasons in an interview to System Magazine. Ghesquiére said:

'It was around that time that I heard people saying, ‘Your style is so Balenciaga now, it’s no longer Nicolas Ghesquière, it’s Balenciaga’s style.’ It all became so dehumanised. Everything became an asset for the brand, trying to make it ever more corporate – it was all about branding. I don’t have anything against that; actually, the thing that I’m most proud of is that Balenciaga has become a big financial entity and will continue to exist. But I began to feel as though I was being sucked dry, like they wanted to steal my identity while trying to homogenise things. It just wasn’t fulfilling anymore.'

The Goss-IPgirl notes that although freedom of expression exists in French law, certain limitations are prescribed by law, especially in instances where an employee or former employee tarnishes the image of an enterprise. According to court documents these comments violated the “separation agreement” that Ghesquière signed on October 17, 2012, which said that he 'refrain from declarations that could hurt the image of Balenciaga.' Lines mentioned in the lawsuit include, 'I feel as though I was sucked dry' and 'they wanted to steal my identity.'

The court document says: 'Balenciaga didn’t want its designer to justify his departure by criticizing the house that employed him. In general, the parties, knowing the hypersensitivity of the fashion industry to changes in creative direction, were forbidden from commenting on the break in order to avoid any detrimental effect on their economic interests or their image.'

The court documents also say that, Balenciaga is seeking damages of 7 million euros over the interview in System magazine. And also, according to the filing, Ghesquière was paid 6.6 million euros as compensation for breaking his employment contracts, signed in 2010 and 2012.

The hearing will take place in in the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris on July 1st to the hear oral arguments of this civil law case. This could be an interesting one for both freedom of expression and contract law, so let’s watch this space.