Hedi Slimane - Designer

[Xone]

It was in one of the latest episodes of her podcast.

So she said that in what context? like she knew where he is going?

 

[Lola701]

Exactly! There can only be one “God”. And that is Hedi and no one else.
If you order Hedi, you will also get Hedi. And everything that happens next won't be a surprise. You rely on a safe horse and the horse should be very well looked after.

That’s not how you substain a company….
The only god is Bernard Arnault. And Hedi is the one leaving each time.

Of course, I think my point was more that Arnault would go very far to keep Hedi at Celine if that was really a main objective for LVMH. I'm sure Merle has done a great job, not only in coping with Hedi's antics and demands but also in implementing the vision of someone else who is a complete perfectionist in all details.
Having said that, her real challenge will come now in managing Celine when her role will probably be even more important while the brand is transitioning with a new, lesser known CD in an overall difficult, declining market.

Don’t get me wrong.
Part of the reason of why I love Hedi is because of that idea of standards and no compromises (even when he do compromise). And in general, the designers who are « difficult » from a corporate POV are usually the ones who fight for their team. They are usually the best to work with and you see how the teams will talk about them for years.
But I also think that executives have to be taken « on the journey » in order to make a longlasting and productive collaboration.

I'm sure Merle was excited to work with Hedi because everybody wants to work with that kind of high profile talent. And at that kind of stage, those super creative directors are also business minded.
So it’s sad when it all comes down to personalities issues that trickle down to ego because at the end, the interest of the company is lost.

Hedi wasn’t going to stay there for 3 years either. At some point, the house would have been forced to move on.

 

[PDFSD]

But leaving does not mean your the weaker one they hired him again and again, more CD ´s leave because the business side think to apply simplistic formulas to maximize profit.

Part of being a good CEO is know where to leave space for the start its , like a manager that wants to be on the stage as well then become the artist your self.

NG at Balencia left also for this as they wanted to open store in easy places etc , ALessandro at gucci also left because he dod not wanted to change what he believed in etc

So far from what i know i don't think anything done at Celine was so crazy or out of place for a Ceo to have issues with as the brand was working even if slower sales lately a hurdle but not a reason to change plans big time or feel its all to extra on Hedi side.

Bernard is god of his underpants and the deep pockets lol, but creatively the CD are gods because they can bring the magic that the business can build around something to sell and grow.

You can have the best marketing team or deep pockets or business power but if the CD is crap you will have hard time maximizing the brand sales and power .

Moving of design studio is nothing new as long as you sell the company allows it and your needs, factually Hedi is not unique in this, Tom moved gucci to London , frida to florence then to rome because she is from there, alessandro kept it in Rome because he is from there , but with sabato the moved it to milan to optimize cost he had no say because he just arrived and it was part of his contract.

Miu Miu had its studio in paris also for a while as a experiment not so long ago etc etc .

These demands that come to light with Hedi and become repeated one liners in press are no new thing at many other brands.

I think we forget that this happens to lower level employees all the time and you would want to do same as some one like Hedi did and leave and find your place somewhere else corporations are not looking out for your needs even when you give allot to the company.

be a diva , and leave when you know your worth .

best companies know your need divas to lead a company look at steve job total diva and control freak into details etc KL als total diva and rightfully he saved chanel and made it what it is today period !!

to me they are gods of their industries if MARC JACOBS did not do at LV what he did or NG or Virgil LVMH would be far smaller, its the ideas they produce that make desire and sales....businessman and woman are in a support to the vision not other way around.

its still crazy that most CEO get paid more than the Creative directors , that if you handle money your more worthy of big salary then being creative and as result generate money/income for the company.

its crazy !!!!!!!!!!

Out of my personal experience meeting CEO or top management of some of these companies seeing them in action and hearing them speak you know they just riding of the tail of the success of the creative teams because the level of intelligence is far from business geniuses.

Often they are not more than a glorified PR man or woman that can read a spreadsheet and use corporate fancy words to direct the team to the obvious.