Nicolas Ghesquiere, one of the most innovative designers of the past decade (so influential, in fact, that every other designer famously stole from him), has announced he'll be leaving his position as head of French fashion house Balenciaga. Since taking the helm of the house in 1997, he's steered it in a futuristic, tech-friendly direction, and made iconic looks like 2008's floral armor collection. This comes just a year after a major fashion sea change: Raf Simons was ousted from Jil Sander and sent to take over for John Galliano at Christian Dior and Hedi Slimane replaced Stefano Pilati at Yves Saint-Laurent. No word on why Ghesquiere is leaving or who will take his place, but François-Henri Pinault, the owner of Balenciaga's parent company PPR called the designer “an incomparable creative talent.”