Designers do the darndest things when they leave a label. When Helmut Lang left Helmut Lang, he disappeared into Long Island and turned the remains of his collections into petrified poles. When Hedi Slimane left Dior Homme, he relocated to Los Angeles and photographed a conga line of nubile young celebrities. When Thierry Mugler left Thierry Mugler, he decamped for Las Vegas and transformed his body into something resembling the Incredible Hulk.

When Nicolas Ghesquière left Balenciaga two months ago, he joined Twitter and, just this morning, dispatched his first and only tweet . It says “Thank you to all of you for such a fantastic welcome!” with the image of a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet attached. But what may seem crazy at first makes a lot more sense when you revisit his fall ’12 collection for Balenciaga, with its intergalactic-themed shirts and Darth Vader-like headgear. Which means the real crazy is yet to come and that’s something to look forward to.