"It's not completely sure. It is true that our lawyers are talking, though there's nothing official yet. But it's certainly extremely positive," Ona Selfa told FWD in a phone call to his Brussels atelier.

The son of Spanish émigré parents, Ona Selfa was born in Brussels and attended that city's prestigious La Cambre Fashion Institute.

A spokeswoman for Loewe in Paris insisted that, "nothing is done yet. For the moment we are in suspense." However, buyers who visited Loewe's Madrid headquarters recently were informed by Loewe staff that the house had decided to hire a Belgium designer - strengthening the belief that Ona Selfa would get the position.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury conglomerate, owns Loewe. Founded in 1846 by a German emigrant Heinrich Loewe Rossberg, Loewe became the official supplier to the Spanish royal family in 1905. Loewe launched its women's ready-to-wear collection in 1965, though it has never been a huge success.

Rodriguez's appointment in 1997, a year after he designed the wedding dress of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, was a major media coup. But the designer's preference for refined minimalism and modern eveningwear never quite jelled at Loewe, primarily a leather goods specialist. As noted, Rodriguez is leaving Loewe to focus on his signature New York-based house.

Ona Selfa staged his first RTW collection in 1999 and his designs currently retail at Linda Dresner, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The 26-year-old designer has rapidly earned a hot reputation thanks to his flamenco-inspired silhouettes and avant-garde knitwear.

"My Spanish origins certainly come out in my collections, but with lots of sang froid and detachment," said Ona Selfa, who stages his next runway show on October 7 on the Off List of the Paris season.

The designer added that were he to become Loewe's designer he intended to continue his own collection. "There's no way I'm going to stop that."