PARIS, Nov 14, 2002/ FW/ --- Laurent Mercier, head of the Ready-To-Wear division of Balmain Couture since December 2001, was named Artistic Director of the Haute Couture division yesterday. His nomination puts an end to speculation that the Balmain Haute Couture line might be discontinued.

His predecessor, Dominican-born American designer Oscar de la Renta who has been the couturier for Balmain since 1992 resigned his post last July due to ill-health. He showed his last collection for Balmain during the Fall 2002 Haute Couture season.

De La Renta who had a major surgery on his back last year decided not to finish his tenure at Balmain which should have ended in January 2003. It was an amicable separation.

Laurent Mercier, who previously spent three years as assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier, will present his first collection of Haute Couture for Balmain in January 2003.