ALEXANDER WANG is Balenciaga's new creative director. The New York-based designer will replace Nicolas Ghesquière at the French fashion house, who officially leaves today - after 15 years at the helm.

"I am deeply honoured to embark on this new role for a brand and house that I have such great admiration and respect for," said Wang.

Wang will be responsible for the brand's men's, women's and accessories lines. The news comes despite recent rumours that Scottish designer Christopher Kane was in line for the role - reports that were quickly denied by his representatives.

"Balenciaga is an extraordinary fashion house with inexhaustible potential and it is endowed with a priceless heritage," said PPR CEO and chairman François-Henri Pinault. "Alexander Wang will use his creativity and his own research to reinterpret and immortalise the distinctive, modern and extremely innovative style imposed by Cristóbal Balenciaga."

Alexander Wang graduated from New York's Parsons School of Design in 2005 and, following an internship at Teen Vogue, began designing for his eponymous label - which was originally celebrated for its range of fine cashmere knitwear. The designer's first full ready-to-wear collection launched in 2007, shortly followed by diffusion line, T by Alexander Wang, in 2009 - the same year that he was the recipient of the Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund Award. The 28-year-old opened his debut flagship store in Manhattan in 2011 and is today renowned for his edgy androgynous design aesthetic and luxury accessories.