[neur0se]

The collection was OK.

It certainly has some of the logic of menswear, Slimane's original métier. The presentation was simple, and the clothes pragmatic.

A classical ready-to-wear collection.

[La bordélique]

I see Bianca Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg (and their minion Kate Moss). While I do appreciate their style, I don't feel that excited about this collection. This looks like 95% Yves Saint Laurent 5% Hedi Slimane, and while that may please Pierre Bergé, I was hoping the fashion house would head into a new direction. This just feels a bit lazy.

[KKnardi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike413 WOW. Just, wow. I'm not exactly sure who Slimane thinks he is or what he thinks he's achieved with this or any other collection he's ever designed, but even by fashion standards, even compared to any industry FULL of egos, the response to Horyn seems beyond extreme, almost to the point of caricature but not at all funny in the end. Coupled with the info provided by BoF it paints a very, very negative picture. And not for anything, it's no wonder Berge loves Slimane like he's his own child. That letter sounds like it could have been written by Pierre.

agree, it's actually not signed.

[Elfinkova]

Why do I feel that if Cathy Horyn had been invited she'd disguise her criticism behind a veil of subtlety? I for one am glad she wasn't invited- what resulted was an unapologetic, precise critique that summed up my feelings for this collection entirely (and best of all she attacked his inflated ego ).

I cannot lie, though: that gown on Kinga was beautiful.

[Fabi]

Completely underwhelmed. All that drama/hype for this? I'm a fan of all things 70s but this seems boring and dated, especially those bows! The hats have a nice shape, though.

[LagerfeldBoy]

...well, at least the letter got me to visit the new YSL website
Cathy Horyn's criticism is spot on. From a fan's point of view, I love the collection, but there's nothing being pushed forward.
Btw, has anyone checked the new 'site? I can't help but think immediately of Dior Homme with how the clothes and accessories are displayed. Kind of expected. Does anyone know if the clothes, shoes, and accessories that are being sold are just simply items he designed to sell or like from a resort collection he designed? There's a biker jacket, some sneakers, and some cute dresses.

[vickileekx]

Cathy Horyn really shows her true colors in that review. All the banal, misguided adventures in elitism put aside: I realize that the show might appear to be pre-dated to 2006 LA (which I would blame more on the styling than anything) but I don't understand the huge amount of hate it's receiving at all... The clothes are an obviously modern take on the heritage of YSL with a new and definitive view point applied to them + they're most certainly commercially and editorially viable. What more could you want from a debut collection?

[IsabelMarantBoy]

I really didn't expect this to get as much hate as it did. I thought it looked awesome and well yes, the boho style is definitely from the 2005-2006 era, I welcome it back into fashion to be honest. Sometimes it just takes one person to bring a trend back and maybe it was Hedi's turn.

[Fidelity]

It isn't that bad, I like the last dresses best

[Melancholybaby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by t-rex Appropriately, Hedi's Twitter account is called hedislimanetwit

He should change it to hedislimaneas*.
He always rubbed me the wrong way but this is out of this world hilarious and shows that his ego knows no limits. The drama this season is more interesting than the collections.

[agee]

The thing that mystifies me is why did François-Henri Pinault give a new creative director all this freedom, especially one that does not have an extensive track record in womenswear and has not even been doing fashion design in recent years.

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the answer lies in Pierre Bergé and that PPR is forcing some kind of issue, if Slimane succeeds then all is good and Slimane, under Berge's tutelage, can bring back some luster to the iconic house, but if Slimane (and Berge by default) fail then perhaps the hope is that the next team installed by PPR can do their thing without Berge casting aspersions from the sidelines.

ETA:
When I refer to freedom, I am not simply referring to creative freedom but freedom when it comes to branding and public and media relations.

[agee]

Re the collection... my reaction to the collection, much like the collection itself, is scattered. I think that the collection started out very strong and was a good fusion of Hedi's aesthetic with the YSL legacy, but it seemed to fall apart after the twelfth or so look and just became redundant with the continued preponderance skinny pants looks and a bunch of dresses, some of which were very nice, that were thematically all over the place.

I like the hats but I think having them on every look was a misstep.

Too costumey, and not in a fashion way, but in a lesbian Puss N' Boots and her wiccan girlfriend hanging out kinda way.

It looks very Milan which is not bad in and of itself, but it looks like Cavalli and Dundas decided to join forces, disappeared on a three month bender to celebrate the merger, and showed up at their studios three weeks before Milan Fashion Week and created a collection.

There was inconsistency in how the models presented the looks, some gave off a relaxed, cool chick vibe, which I assume was the brief, but some were too tentative like they were playing the choreography in their head - "am I going too fast... too slow... how long should I pose at the end of the runway..."

I am conflicted when it comes to predicting the future of Saint Laurent by Hedi Slimane. I have a soft spot when I perceive that a "new" designer may have put out an overall bad collection out of exuberance and trying to present every idea in his / her first show. In my mind I feel like that there is room to grow and become more refined and disciplined, that was my initial impression here and is why at first glance I preferred the SS 2013 Saint Laurent collection over the Dior collection. HOWEVER two things are really giving me pause here and that is that this collection has some good, albeit not wildly creative, designs, but there is also a lot of styling going on - it's like a DSquared2 collection without the kitsch, and the second thing is that Slimane is showing himself to be quite the wackadoo, which is certainly not unprecedented in fashion, but I suspect that he had been given too much power, not just over creative but over public and media relations, and there does not seem to be anyone around to rein him in.

[disco54]

I just saw their new website, and I am shocked at how much black there is, lol.
I will be surprised if he lasts 2 more seasons lol.

[liberty33r1b]

^hopefully less than that....

[Morphe]

WHAT NOT TO WEAR TO HEDI'S DEBUT?

Apparently if you really wanted to piss off the new regime under Hedi Slimane at the renamed Saint Laurent Paris guests were encouraged NOT WEAR anything designed by Stefano Pilati for today's runway debut. It is strictly verboten, according to many people involved with the relaunch. I cannot confirm if it was the same situation with anything designed by Alber Elbaz for Yves Saint Laurent during his all-too-brief stint. Nor have I inquired about Tom Ford looks......

src: decadesinc.blogspot