Hedi Slimane - Designer, Creative Director of Celine

[Kimihiro]

With that Same Bruno statement that we use to discount Hedi, we could use to rule out someone fashion forward. At least from a design perspective. As much as we trash on Slimane for the rebrandings, design-wise he doesn’t veer far from the Chanel framework. It’s conservative and sharp. They don’t want to start from scratch, so a design revolution can actually be ruled out.

The only thing that makes me apprehensive about Hedi is that he’s not a good dressmaker. But say Alessandro doing his thing would be more “blowing it up” than Hedi doing endless tweeds and stuff he already does.

 

[Irere]

I don’t think Hedi Slimane would be a smart choice at all for Chanel — or any other house at this point — because it’s pretty obvious at this point what would happen: Clothes for size 0 and under, models on the cigarettes-and-cocaine diet, the rock scene look stuck in 2004, all boutiques redone in white marble and chrome, and just when it’s finished… he leaves to turn Louis Vuitton or Salvatore Ferragamo or Baby Gap into a clone of exactly that.

He’s a one-man fashion Borg, assimilating brands into his unbending, monomaniacal vision that they then struggle to redefine themselves out of for years while competing with the new döppelganger he’s just created.

Chanel has to know what Slimane will do; he’s already done it three times already, and only a fool will think this tiger’s going to change its stripes. That said, I can think of one reason Chanel might want Slimane. After all, if Chanel still wants growth, there’s one place they can find it: menswear. And Slimane proved he could take a womenswear-only brand and expand it into menswear successfully with Celine. Unless that’s their plan, it would be foolish to turn Chanel into Dior Homme #4/Saint Laurent #3/Celine #2.

 

[visvim2001]

He’s a one-man fashion Borg, assimilating brands into his unbending, monomaniacal vision that they then struggle to redefine themselves out of for years while competing with the new döppelganger he’s just created.

This might be the best sentence I’ve read all year…and I read a fair bit.

 

[Alquimista]

Do they demand portfolios for the "candidates"? To show their ideas for the brand, etc, etc.

Chanel (Bruno?) can rule out a name just by looking at the ideas a designer may have for the house.

Slimane could only be viable if he didn't proposed crazy ideas like changing the logo or banning tweed. Lol

But to me Nicolas is the one. He won't change anything radically. I can see him working WITH the codes, not deleting them.

 

[louis]

Why there’s no Maison ALAÏA in the provisional Paris calendar?

 

[Creative]

He’s a one-man fashion Borg, assimilating brands into his unbending, monomaniacal vision that they then struggle to redefine themselves out of for years while competing with the new döppelganger he’s just created.

That couldn’t be any further from reality.

YSL has been what it has been thanks purely to Hedi. A few years ago YSL was not even in the fashion conversation revenue wise. And they could redefine the aesthetic pretty smoothly after Hedi.

Dior Homme, the same. Now it’s doing a trillion times better than when Hedi was there, but he made the line beyond famous.

He’s now at Céline. We don’t know what will happen next. But any brand that has a powerful CD suffered after the CD left: Chanel, Lanvin, Dior, Givenchy, Gucci…

Seriously, it’s ok if you don’t like him, but facts are facts.

 

[Lola701]

Why there’s no Maison ALAÏA in the provisional Paris calendar?

They are showing in NYC. And they are usually presenting during Couture usually anyway.

 

[tourbillions]

YSL has been what it has been thanks purely to Hedi. A few years ago YSL was not even in the fashion conversation revenue wise. And they could redefine the aesthetic pretty smoothly after Hedi.

Dior Homme, the same. Now it’s doing a trillion times better than when Hedi was there, but he made the line beyond famous.

not sure about that... Vaccarello has been selling saint laurent with his vision. He started with some hedi-isms for a smooth transition but he really made it his own. atleast for womenswear, menswear is struggling though.

And Dior is where they're at because of mary grace. As boring as she is, she has made a lot of desirable and sellable things.

and its not far from reality to say that Hedi did the same thing in all 3 houses.

Anyway I really hope Bruno meant what he said, Even Virginies Chanel was more diversed than whatever Hedi would come up with. awkardly proportioned party dresses, that are either all black or stoned for the gods. and the usual suiting with skinny ties.

 

[Irere]

That couldn’t be any further from reality.

YSL has been what it has been thanks purely to Hedi. A few years ago YSL was not even in the fashion conversation revenue wise. And they could redefine the aesthetic pretty smoothly after Hedi.

Dior Homme, the same. Now it’s doing a trillion times better than when Hedi was there, but he made the line beyond famous.

He’s now at Céline. We don’t know what will happen next. But any brand that has a powerful CD suffered after the CD left: Chanel, Lanvin, Dior, Givenchy, Gucci…

Seriously, it’s ok if you don’t like him, but facts are facts.

Okay, if “facts are facts,” then one must acknowledge that:

• Dior Homme technically no longer exists. All that’s left of Slimane’s stand-alone brand is the Dior Homme fragrance that has been repeatedly changed from its original formula. Dior Men has as an identity that is much less independent and more tied to the larger Dior house.

• Saint Laurent has been progressively moving away from Slimanism and back towards a look that recalls its founder (as well as the underrated Pilati) for years now, abandoning the Topshop Luxe vibe for a decidedly more French. And Slimane’s sans serif logo is increasingly pushed aside for the classic Cassandre word mark now. One wonders if “Yves” will return any day now.

• Moreover, looking at the YSL boutique and Celine — and please, no accent; Monsieur Slimane is most insistent on this — boutique one block away, it’s glaringly apparent how much Slimane is of a singular mindset: White marble. Mirrored chrome. White marble. Mirrored chrome. When the Dior Homme boutique existed, want to guess what it looked like? White marble. Mirrored chrome. At Dior Homme, his most famous sunglass style was named “Black Tie.” At Celine, he named a fragrance “Black Tie” — and that fragrance smells almost exactly like the original Dior Homme. He’s a collection of the same tropes, all shot in black-and-white, soundtrack by the Kaiser Chiefs, just changing house names every few years.

Okay, sure, the companies did well under Slimane. Nevertheless, Slimane always swoops in like a wrecking ball, knocking out accents and first names and covering everything in half a quarry’s worth of Carrara marble, turning legacy brands into the House of Hedi by another name.

Seriously, it’s okay if you like him, but facts are facts.

 

[louis]

They are showing in NYC. And they are usually presenting during Couture usually anyway.

Thank you Lola.😉

 

[NoInvite]

Well if you see the same thing at 3 houses then that's on you. If you go deeper I find the 3 period of work rather different from the other.

Dior Homme - Sharp, precise super minimal than the others. Boutique were rather black lacquer and white. Product wise more tailoring, slim fitted u know for early 2000s metrosexual men.
Saint Laurent - Still my favorite era. True to YSL 60-70s. Too bad he didn't stay long enough to tap into 80s would have been so fun. Paris rive gauche saint germain vibes. Stores marbles and chrome like a gallery.
Celine - I think it's his most fun era. References to Paris and France. More conceptual and fun. Clothes and products classic with a touch of casual wear (duh it was 2020) Muses and we the daughter that lives on the left bank and the mens were French 80s singers. Interior at stores are more warm. Marbles had colors with an accent of gold and wood!

These are just small points I just thought of randomly here and there. I think people misinterpret doing the same with "having the same touch" there is always a touch that he always has but for me it's never the same. What does he need to do to be different make suits with five arms? After all fashion today in it's billions and billions is never about newness its all about formula each designer and creative director has their own he has his way.

 

[avonlea002]

I am not sure if we can put Vaccarello and vision in the same sentence. His early collections were an amalgamation of Tom Ford and Slimane. He was clueless. Fortunately for him, he discovered archives and started copying directly from them. I still have no idea who Anthony is a designer though. All I know is he has good taste in images, but that's it.

 

[tourbillions]

All I know is he has good taste in images, but that's it.

all it takes these days... have you seen lv menswear lately 😂 but it is working for them. I guess hedi is also mostly just an image maker now.

 

[MulletProof]

Monsieur Slimane is most insistent on this —

this thread.. 🤹‍♂️

 

[LadyJunon]

At Dior Homme, his most famous sunglass style was named “Black Tie.” At Celine, he named a fragrance “Black Tie” — and that fragrance smells almost exactly like the original Dior Homme. He’s a collection of the same tropes, all shot in black-and-white, soundtrack by the Kaiser Chiefs, just changing house names every few years.

I believe that his final collection for his first tenure at YSL (AW00) was also called "Black Tie".

Once you get past the Hedi-typical branding, the actual final products themselves are insanely different:
• Dior Homme was quite sharp, brutalist and stoic, very much in the line of Helmut Lang, Ann Demeulemeester and Ghesquière's Balenciaga,
• Saint Laurent was very much in line with the values of OG Rive Gauche, more androgynous, eccentric with heavier doses of subcultural bad taste (rock, punk, indie),
• Celine is definitely the most nostalgic, harkening back to the brand's heydays in the late 60s/70s as well as nods to 90s New Wave for his menswear.

The issue is that Hedi's approach to world building is so specific and divisive that it can easily eclipse the clothes his makes.

 

[NoInvite]

And most importantly the bags offerings at SL and Celine is so different.
The bags at SL were more minimal and graphic. But at Celine it was way more vintage inspired. Lots of vintage hardware with equestrian roots and leather trimmings and post importantly way more logos. The popularity journey of the Triomphe logo is one of the recent a success story in terms of re-branding.

 

[Alquimista]

Is Gaga wearing Celine here?

The twitter link didn't work idk why

x.com

x.com

 

[louis]

Is Gaga wearing Celine here?

The twitter link didn't work idk why

x.com

x.com

Yes, she is

 

[Irere]

Well if you see the same thing at 3 houses then that's on you. If you go deeper I find the 3 period of work rather different from the other.

These are just small points I just thought of randomly here and there. I think people misinterpret doing the same with "having the same touch" there is always a touch that he always has but for me it's never the same. What does he need to do to be different make suits with five arms? After all fashion today in it's billions and billions is never about newness its all about formula each designer and creative director has their own he has his way.

Once you get past the Hedi-typical branding, the actual final products themselves are insanely different:

The issue is that Hedi's approach to world building is so specific and divisive that it can easily eclipse the clothes his makes.

This ↑ very much encapsulates it. Yes, Slimane changes. He evolves. He's not static; but he has his own specific codes — the rail-thin silhouette, the predominance of monochrome, an adherence to a certain demimonde aesthetic — and those codes will always come before any pre-existing codes of the house he inherits. Case in point: YSL was very much about gold — lots and lots of shiny, blingy gold. Donald Trump levels of gold. The more gold the better. But Hedi Slimane... he doesn't like gold. He likes silvery chrome. So... buh-bye gold, even though it's a YSL code. Why? Because it's not a Slimane code.

I personally think Hedi Slimane should be the creative director of the house of Hedi Slimane. He's shown that his vision is so strong that he's going to make House of Slimane products wherever he goes. He's not Karl Lagerfeld, who could adapt himself one way to Chanel and another to Fendi and a third way to Chloé. It's not that he's untalented or a bad designer — but he is a bit like a parasite that infiltrates a brand, replicates himself, and, once he's used up whatever inspiration and resources he can suck out of that brand, he moves onto the next fashion house to repeat the process.

 

[Irere]

Fortunately for him, he discovered archives and started copying directly from them. I still have no idea who Anthony is a designer though. All I know is he has good taste in images, but that's it.

I just wish he'd find more of those good images because his recent shows have been pretty thin. I don't think he can keep sending the same dozen looks down the runway in four different colors much longer.