Designer Nicolas Ghesquiere, who made his name resuscitating fashion brand Balenciaga, has been brought on board as creative director for womenswear at Louis Vuitton, where he is expected to bring new life to the company's garments and products, the world's No.1 luxury brand, parent LVMH said this week.

Ghesquiere will design Louis Vuitton's ready-to-wear and some of its fashion accessories but will not be involved with permanent bag collections such as the Neverfull, the Speedy or the new higher-end series like the Capucines, which cost 3,500 euros ($4,700) apiece.

"Ghesquiere, one of the favorite designers of the most sophisticated fashion insiders, could positively contribute to the repositioning of the brand towards more exclusivity," said Mario Ortelli, luxury goods analyst at brokerage Bernstein.

Ghesquiere was seen as the front-runner to replace Marc Jacobs, who announced his exit from Louis Vuitton last month to focus on developing his eponymous fashion business.

The move follows a series of leadership changes at Louis Vuitton, LVMH's biggest source of revenue and profit, aimed at helping the brand regain some of its lost prestige as sales growth more than halved over the past year.

Last month, Louis Vuitton hired Darren Spaziani, former Proenza Schouler accessories designer, to beef up its high-end offering of leather bags.

Consumers changing

Louis Vuitton, the biggest luxury brand with more than 7.3 billion euros in annual sales, has seen sales growth steadily drop, hit by cooling demand in Asia and consumers' growing preference for no-logo products.

It has pruned its collection of logo bags, widened its offering of expensive leather bags and slowed down its store network expansion to tackle the perception that it is too ubiquitous. But the transition took its toll on growth.

Louis Vuitton said Ghesquiere "will bring a modern creative vision to the House's women's collections."

He will present his first collection in March 2014.

During his 15-year tenure at Balenciaga, Ghesquiere, 42, is widely credited with having helped turn the fashion label into one of the fastest-growing and most profitable brands of parent Kering. Kering, formerly known as PPR, also owns Gucci among other brands.

"This is good news, as he is well known to be both creative and respect the brand DNA, which is just what is needed," said Luca Solca, luxury goods analyst at Exane BNP Paribas.