Designer & Fashion Insiders Behavior (PLEASE READ POST #1 BEFORE POSTING)

[vetements]

Agreed. I don't find it to be a tantrum per se, but how else was he expected to get his point out? Emailing the fashion press directly, penning an open letter in the NY Times? I'm sure the alternatives would've elicited even more eye rolls.



I think you have missed the point...Spike's post sums it up rather well.

Agreed too. Whether Pilati's designs or Vaccarello's designs are better is subjective but fact remains Slimane did Kering a huge favor by turning the brand around, I just find what Kering did distasteful, so what's wrong with putting as many tweets as possible to make a point? Facts, are well, facts after all.

 

[Littleathquakes]

so what's wrong with putting as many tweets as possible to make a point? Facts, are well, facts after all.

because it makes him look immature, and possibly insane?

 

[dsamg]

because it makes him look immature, and possibly insane?

Exactly right. This is not how a rational adult gets their point across. It is how a 17 year old expresses their thoughts.

 

[vetements]

Exactly right. This is not how a rational adult gets their point across. It is how a 17 year old expresses their thoughts.

I am not sure if I can still stay 'chill' if I am being accused repeatedly by a major conglomerate...and he just said it in a rather matter of fact tone. Keeping it succinct with one post only leaves more room for people to second guess, so might as well do a ' look everyone, I am laying down the facts here...' I don't know.

I guess whichever way he does it, social media is after all social media, they can hardly be taken seriously by anyone.

 

[MulletProof]

he's not just clearing up whatever kering said or what "many" critics have said.. this is just more of his ongoing sexual tension with cathy horyn lol, who titled her review "the Y is back"...

.. I have to say, it's admirable the power she has over him, the accusation of not having invented skinny jeans must've cut him in half back then (oh fashion ).. if only she would push harder, she might even get him to create really good things, like a label of his own...

 

[Spike413]

because it makes him look immature, and possibly insane?

Standing up for yourself when people make false accusations and providing proof of their falseness makes one insane, now? I'm assuming you don't win many arguments.

From where I'm sitting there was nothing in any of those tweets to point to a lack of maturity or sanity. The most one could fairly accuse Slimane of being is petty and passive aggressive -- neither of which are qualities reserved only for the immature and insane among us -- and even taking that into account, he still managed to prove Cathy Horyn to be misinformed...or worse, to be someone who will deliberately bend the truth to take a pot shot at someone she doesn't get along with and make a buzzy headline.

Meanwhile, if this whole issue involved a designer who wasn't such a divisive personality I guarantee they'd probably have viewers "yasssssing" left and right at how they clapped back and schooled their haters for flat out lying. But Hedi's not sympathetic, ergo he's mocked for pointing out something which shouldn't even need to be pointed out.

 

[MulletProof]

Hardly bending the truth, the Yves was dropped. He did explain (not necessarily deny or admit) that the Yves was simply "saved for later", for the remake of that more exclusive line that unfortunately didn't really happen.. anyone with enough interest read that. So for him to come back with some "FOR THE RECORD I CHAMPIONED THE Y!! IN THIS PICTURE, THIS OTHER ONE, WAIT I HAVE ONE MORE STARRING LUCY!".. ok?

It's not that he has a divisive personality or that people treated him unfairly for 4 years, I'm sure most people felt respect towards his trajectory. The problem is that from day 1 (literally) he came back with these petulant and egomaniac twitter tantrums where no gram of criticism will be tolerated and whoever dares "shall be expelled from his kingdom", not before he throws a few sexist insults here and there ("you're not stylish!!!", do people even remember any of this?!).

Now many around here wonder and whine on a regular basis, why is fashion so boring now! why are critics not critics anymore? well guess why! because while critics are not being critics anymore and it's oh so sad, people are simultaneously idolizing the idiots that put their feet on whoever chooses to question the work and the image and tactics they use at luxury goods companies (which have more responsibilities way beyond fashion than an independent label).

Back to the petty attitude, it is nothing new in any field really, and there's a surprising level of tolerance when it's justified by some kind of brilliant contribution in return. People will certainly forgive the unforgivable then. So delivering the opposite got him the opposite, you cannot act like an a*shole and still have the nerve to deliver deplorable rags you call design, that just fires up critics already watching you closer than others because you're trying to repress their work. You kind of have to push the envelope in some way, like Rei, or Paco Rabanne (lol), in order to get away with these unnecessary insanity lapses. Hedi just exemplifies in fashion what makes a meltdown by Justin Bieber insufferable and what makes Bob Dylan not answering any questions in an interview smile-inducing (kind of telling bieber was big for saint laurent while bob keeps turning down hedi, but that's another topic ).

 

[Spike413]

^ Ahhhh but Cathy Horyn very deliberately chose to say that the "Y" was back in YSL, not that "Yves" was back in Yves Saint Laurent, and whether she sees the distinction or not the plain fact is that the Y never left the logo. So again, either she's misinformed (which I'd find a little hard to believe of a highly regarded member of the fashion press) or she's aiming for an angle, but either way she's not correct in her declaration that the YSL logo is somehow back from the dead.

Speaking of petty...how about using a review of a totally different designer's work to take a subtle but noticeable swipe at someone who you've had a contentious relationship with?

 

[Littleathquakes]

Standing up for yourself when people make false accusations and providing proof of their falseness makes one insane, now? I'm assuming you don't win many arguments.

From where I'm sitting there was nothing in any of those tweets to point to a lack of maturity or sanity. The most one could fairly accuse Slimane of being is petty and passive aggressive -- neither of which are qualities reserved only for the immature and insane among us -- and even taking that into account, he still managed to prove Cathy Horyn to be misinformed...or worse, to be someone who will deliberately bend the truth to take a pot shot at someone she doesn't get along with and make a buzzy headline.

Meanwhile, if this whole issue involved a designer who wasn't such a divisive personality I guarantee they'd probably have viewers "yasssssing" left and right at how they clapped back and schooled their haters for flat out lying. But Hedi's not sympathetic, ergo he's mocked for pointing out something which shouldn't even need to be pointed out.

So in your book, quantity over quality, if that's what it takes to win arguments? Not for me.


My point is, and has been, brevity was enough. His tweets were prolific. They came off petulant.


And let's not go there with the "if he weren't this or that" - if another designer did act like that, I would sit here and say the same thing. I'm a pretty good authority on myself [/Lady Olenna], so don't presume to tell me otherwise. Fact is, he is a divisive personality and this was a blatant display of an e-tantrum.


And MulletProof pretty much nailed it.

 

[MulletProof]

how about using a review of a totally different designer's work to take a subtle but noticeable swipe at someone who you've had a contentious relationship with?

That sounds like while reviewing Derek Lam, she dropped some snarky veiled comment about Saint Laurent under Hedi, which isn't unusual in fashion journalism and yes it is petty, but didn't happen here.

That's a common notion though, really buying the "new designer: new era" and the past is automatically erased, there's no reason to make any mention or reference, "it never happened", it's only them and their cute time machine-worthy connection where the original designer circa 1973 whispers to them what to do. And that's not really how it works, it's all part of a sequence (not exclusive to fashion).. the sole fact that they took over responds to the conditions of the house right before they got in. So it isn't really an apples and oranges difference where comparisons are uncalled for as you suggest because they're not designing on their own, they're under the same parameter, conglomerate and reinterpreting the same legacy no matter how different they are as creators, so yes, it is normal and necessary for journalists to talk about the direction of one brand regardless of how vulnerable some egos are...

 

[Phuel]

^^^ Can’t imagine someone like Fabien Baron, Tim Blanks or Miuccia to even bothering with such pettiness, let alone going apesh*t with the 1st-person complex on SM (which, as much as I despise it to an extend, I’ve also come to appreciate/ be amused by it as this instant barometer of how even the most famous/talented/admirable individuals reveal themselves to be as impulsive, as much of a mess as anyone else). And it is petty— cos anyone that knows anything about Hedi and his revamp of Saint Laurent, knows he did more for the brand’s luster than anyone before him, even Yves himself in his last designing days. Absolutely no need to remind anyone of how “great" he is… Hedi’s behaviour reminds me of Arrested Development's Bluth clan’s lack of self-awareness.

Cathryn Horyn— of all people, clearly just enjoys being particularly antagonistic towards Hedi— al the while veiling herself behind the “journalist’s” cloak. I’d even say she’s far worse in her behaviour than Hedi’s creepy tantrums since she knows just how fragile his huge ego is: baiting someone whom she obviously has some weird beef with and knows she can pick on to get a reaction. She’s sort of deplorable and even more juvenile than Hedi. (Although in a way-- a meangirl’s kind of way, I can see why she can’t resist provoking him, repeatedly… it’s all so easy to get him into meltdown mode LOOOOL)

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^I do love Cathy, tho. The only fashion critic out there who still calls bullsh*t when she sees it.

 

[MulletProof]

I’d even say she’s far worse in her behaviour than Hedi’s creepy tantrums since she knows just how fragile his huge ego is: baiting someone whom she obviously has some weird beef with and knows she can pick on to get a reaction. She’s sort of deplorable and even more juvenile than Hedi. (Although in a way-- a meangirl’s kind of way, I can see why she can’t resist provoking him, repeatedly… it’s all so easy to get him into meltdown mode LOOOOL)

haha oh but she's not his caregiver!, I mean, could we really blame her for bringing a cup of p**p next to Hedi and next thing we know Hedi's covered in it? his own doing, and it's hilarious, he exposes himself as a full-blown nutjob with little incentives lol, too irresistible..

I still look at him and hear the "I have not read your book but I will recommend it to everyone JUST SO YOU KNOW THE POWER OF MY NAME!!"... I find myself torn between "ew" and "please tell us more about your name, Kanye" ..

 

[Phuel]

Oh god… a cup of p**p and Hedi LOOOOL

I wonder if he was always this way…???? I’d like to think during his tenure at YSL Homme and Dior Homme, he was an easy-going and still impossibly sophisticated individual. I’ve worked with people that are unforgivingly lacking in self-awareness and so sensitive at the slightest touch. But they’re nobody— in the sense they, and myself included here, are nobodies next to someone like Hedi. And they’re insufferable to work with. I can’t imagine working for Hedi— or just being friends with him. Can you imagine having him for your BF????? (Actually, I can…)

^^I do love Cathy, tho. The only fashion critic out there who still calls bullsh*t when she sees it.

The only reason Horyn is so frank is because she works for New York Magazine, which isn’t as in deep kiss-a*s mode to the big names as all of the other fashion publications. She wouldn’t have that brand of “frank” swagger if she were working for Vogue… That, and her perma-hardon for Raf is another reason why I’m not particularly fond of her. And her sheepish (and admittedly hugely entertaining) baiting at Hedi the snowflake: He’s a delicate flower/snowflake, Cathy… and Mullet! LOL

 

[MulletProof]

she's only been there since relatively recent time, always been frank imo.. at least my earliest memory of her goes back to watching Prada S/S 2002 on Fashion File with all that hormonal excitement of a teenager only to have this woman rain on my parade when right at the show she says 'the brocades? all so repetitive.. maybe try harder next season' .. .. years later I've come to value the weight (and rarity) of her type of criticism, even though personally, I prefer Tim's 'university lecture', more patient and diplomatic style..

 

[HeatherAnne]

^ I miss that Cathy.

Cathy Horyn's reviews have been as biased as they come over the last few years. Somewhere along the way she started letting her personal feelings come into reviews, and she does antagonize those she doesn't like (Slimane being the most famous case of that) and protect those she does like (Raf Simons springs to mind).

 

[Benn98]

Glamour Brazil's moment of madness, all presumably in celebration of the closing of their 'Special Japan Issue':

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/glamour-brazil-slammed-for-slanty-eyes-instagram-post-171037618.html

 

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

wow, thats awful

 

[Marc10]

The funny (and awful) thing is that the vast majority of people here would find that offensive at all, you can see that it was mostly foreigners that criticized. Maybe it's a mix ignorance and not being so racially tense like the US, but things like that are kinda common and honestly not done with ill intent. Still not an excuse, though.

 

[Littleathquakes]

Agree, it doesn't excuse it, but it explains it. It's an opportunity for them to learn.