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In an candid interview with new publication System, the 42-year-old talks about the reasons behind his shock departure from Balenciaga, which saw Alexander Wang ushered in as his replacement.

“I never had a partner, and I ended up feeling too alone,” Ghesquière admits. “I had a marvellous studio and design team who were close to me, but it started becoming a bureaucracy and gradually became more corporate, until it was no longer even linked to fashion.”

“Everything became an asset for the brand, trying to make it ever more corporate – it was all about branding,” he says. “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 designer confesses that he starting feeling alienated and unhappy when the Balenciaga business team failed to predict which catwalk pieces would sell well, instead going straight for the most easily merchandisable product.

“The strongest pieces that we made for the catwalk got ignored by the business people,” Ghesquière says. “They forgot that in order to get to that easily sellable biker jacket, it had to go via a technically mastered piece that had been shown on the catwalk… There was no esteem, interest, or recognition for the research that I’d done.”

Intriguingly, Ghesquière mentions how he’s not the only designer who feels this way. “What’s interesting is how my split from Balenciaga has encouraged people to get in touch with me,” he notes. “They’ve said, ‘Me too, I’m in the same situation. I want to leave too.'”

Hmmmm… Just who would those designers be? Leave your guesses in the comments.

Read the full excerpt from System over at Business of Fashion.

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1. Autumn/Winter 2008

Here, Ghesquière demonstrates his signature motifs to great effect: sharp lines, geometric shapes and ultra-structured silhouettes – but combined with the Spanish flair of a particularly dramatic widow breaking up her mourning attire with tan heels and bold jewellery. Particularly ironic, given that Ghesquière initially started out in Balenciaga designing suits and funeral wear for a Japanese audience.

2. Pre-Fall/Winter 2012

Any collection that marries teddy boy jackets, mini dresses, tailoring and splashes of colour is a collection to remember. Ghesquière brought the late 70s and the early 80s back with the use of high-tech fabrics and bright colours that held your attention and literally brought us back to the future.

3. Spring/Summer 2011

What makes this collection so remarkable is that Ghesquière opens his show with a trio of spiky-haired street-cast girls, then ended the show with Gisele Bundchen standing between Amber Valetta, Carolyn Murphy and Stella Tennant. Borrowing from punks, goths and rockabillies, Ghesquière showed off an insouciant rock ‘n’ roll edge – the kind of sullen glamour that later on made Kristen Stewart and Balenciaga a perfect match.

4. Spring/Summer 2009

It’s no wonder Nicolas Ghesquière was selected to shake things up at Balenciaga, one of fashion’s most revered houses. This collection shows that he was one to shy away from experimentation, and it pays off masterfully here, with complex and futuristic pieces that nod towards Balenciaga’s past while keeping its eye firmly on the future.

5. Spring/Summer 2010

Ghesquière has always been one to switch between extremes – hard androgyny one season and feminine softness the next – but he does so with such a clarity of vision that you could never accuse him of flip-flopping. Here, he went for a full-on urban look, playing with denim, recycled fabrics and leather, creating a diverse and athletic day-and-night style.

6. Autumn/Winter 2010

From a sci-fi galaxy to a prettily pink wonderland, Ghesquière went all soft and feminine with this collection, far removed from his previous S/S 2009 show. With its soft midnight blues and sweet baby pinks, he showed that he could exert a light, graceful touch with fabric.

7. Spring/Summer 2013

The designer didn’t hold anything back for what we now know as his final show for Balenciaga. Ghesquière created an effortlessly covetable collection that involved a lot of skin and exuded sexiness: the bustiers were super-sculpted, the crop tops ultra-cropped, the peplum ruffles dancing up and around the skirt silhouette. Beautiful, sleek and completely Balenciaga – farewell, Nicolas; goodbye and good luck.

Words: Tracy Kiryago

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