Kim Stringer, who joined the Austrian designer's company just over two years ago, said she has decided to move back to her native England and will be leaving at the end of this week.

"I have been away from London for over three years, and I was in Japan before that, so I just miss being away from home," Stringer told FWD in a phone interview.

Stringer said she started thinking about leaving New York last week and drafted a letter and told her colleagues Monday that she would be leaving the company and the United States.

Stringer, a longtime personal friend of Lang's, brushed aside rumors that there was a rift between her and the designer. "We were friends when I started and we will be friends when I leave. It's just a personal thing that I want to go home...there's no story other than that."

Stringer has always worked within the fashion industry, first with Frank Magazine in London and later as fashion director of Japanese Vogue, and said she assumes that is where her future will lie.

"I just need a couple of months to recharge my batteries."

She is the second high-ranking executive to leave Helmut Lang. Earlier this year, Jonny Lichtenstein, who was director of marketing for three years, left the company and later became the publicity director of Michael Kors menswear.

A replacement for Stringer has not yet been determined. Representatives at Helmut Lang's office did not return calls.