French luxury company Louis Vuitton says Marc Jacobs is stepping down as creative director of its flagship brand.

Jacobs said he is leaving in order to focus on an IPO for the Marc Jacobs brand – and we can expect this to happen within the next couple of years.

Women’s Wear Daily reported that Nicolas Ghesquière, formerly of Balenciaga, is a front-runner for Jacobs’ job.

Louis Vuitton became the most lucrative fashion house in the world while Jacobs was at the helm for 16 years, according to the Associated Press.

In an article by Suzy Menkes Eric Wilson, posted on the NY Times website on October 2nd, Bernard Arnault, chairman/CEO, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, praised Jacobs, saying:

“When we started together, Marc Jacobs was a tiny little business of around $20 million,” Mr. Arnault said in an interview Wednesday. “Now the totality of sales is approaching $1 billion. It has been an enormous growth.”

Meanwhile, Jacobs keeps innovating with his own brand – he just worked with Hearst to develop the first-ever spritzer fragrance sampler – and we’ll see it used for Daisy, in the November issue of leading fashion magazines.

Photo: Part of the exciting packaging designed for the new makeup collection by Marc Jacobs Beauty, recently launched at Sephora.