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.

 

[Lola701]

^^
Leaving does not mean you are the weaker one but it’s not even a weak or not conversation.

The reality is that it all comes down to relationships between humans. Moving the studio is nothing new and it’s not an issue per say. Everything becomes an issue when the relationship with the counterpart is hard.

I’m sure NG would have stayed at Balenciaga if Guichot was a competent executive. She wasn’t. And for me all the glory for the rebirth of Balenciaga should go to Ghesquiere.

And today, I don’t think Charbit has any clue to what he is doing and I don’t think nobody at Kering is thinking long term anyway…

I’m always on the creative side but I also try to be pragmatic.

But this time, for me it goes both ways. Even if at the end, LVMH wanted him to stay I can see him say « I’m done ». He executed his vision until the end and the brand will be just fine.

The reality today, and it has been the case since Tom Ford really, CD are expected to have a business mind. In reality they always had (Karl, Mugler, Gaultier, Rykiel, Yamamoto and others). But what happens is that sometimes, a CD has a clear vision and the suit don’t has a vision, has a different vision and doesn’t know how to execute it.

And in a way, today suits can hide themselves behind the « total creative vision » of the designer to mask their lack of awareness on the industry and the market when things are difficult.

But the term gods for me here was uncalled for. Nobody is challenging the status of the creatives.
But in this instance, of a business issue, the ones calling the shots and having the « last word » in the company is the owner.

Tbh, I just think it’s a pity that in 2024, we have a major designer, with everything that has been achieved so far, who is leaving because of strategic/relationships issues with the CEO.

And I have to say that a lot of people in the new generation of executives, particularly in France, lacks the culture to run a fashion business. When you see the energy of a Pietro Beccarri, you understand why he is where he is. You see Michael Burke, you understand why he was there. The same for Toledano.
One of the best fashion CEOs, Jean Louis Dumas, Domenico De Sole, achieved great success because they understood the culture, the products, they spent times with the makers, not only with the numbers.

Sometimes it’s simple: you spend time with a creative, you are taken by what’s going on, you believe in it and you end up being ready to do whatever to make it succeed.

It’s maybe what was missing in the Merle/Slimane relationship.

 

[brandon J pierre]

So what was some of the crazy Hedi demands?

 

[Creative]

Lisa who?

 

[Aurimas]

Actually, I would like to see him at Charvet Place Vendôme, would definitely paid a personal visit face to face so as his many other fans, I believe.

 

[Creative]

Do you remember when I said Céline was at -40% vs LY? Everybody said it couldn't be true and they just reported that...

 

[Tchi]

Do you remember when I said Céline was at -40% vs LY? Everybody said it couldn't be true and they just reported that...

What! Can you share the source?

 

[HigthaVandah]

Just tried my sample of the lipstick, and my assessment is that this is what the liquid lipstick 2004 was trying to be.

 

[Caffeine]

Do you remember when I said Céline was at -40% vs LY? Everybody said it couldn't be true and they just reported that...

Sorry, what does LY mean?

 

[Mody]

Sorry, what does LY mean?

Last year

 

[tourbillions]

pretty sure its louis yuitton

 

[louis]

CELINE is selling like hot cakes right now both the women and the mens: must truly be the HEDI halo effect….

 

[louis]

^^
Leaving does not mean you are the weaker one but it’s not even a weak or not conversation.

The reality is that it all comes down to relationships between humans. Moving the studio is nothing new and it’s not an issue per say. Everything becomes an issue when the relationship with the counterpart is hard.

I’m sure NG would have stayed at Balenciaga if Guichot was a competent executive. She wasn’t. And for me all the glory for the rebirth of Balenciaga should go to Ghesquiere.

And today, I don’t think Charbit has any clue to what he is doing and I don’t think nobody at Kering is thinking long term anyway…

I’m always on the creative side but I also try to be pragmatic.

But this time, for me it goes both ways. Even if at the end, LVMH wanted him to stay I can see him say « I’m done ». He executed his vision until the end and the brand will be just fine.

The reality today, and it has been the case since Tom Ford really, CD are expected to have a business mind. In reality they always had (Karl, Mugler, Gaultier, Rykiel, Yamamoto and others). But what happens is that sometimes, a CD has a clear vision and the suit don’t has a vision, has a different vision and doesn’t know how to execute it.

And in a way, today suits can hide themselves behind the « total creative vision » of the designer to mask their lack of awareness on the industry and the market when things are difficult.

But the term gods for me here was uncalled for. Nobody is challenging the status of the creatives.
But in this instance, of a business issue, the ones calling the shots and having the « last word » in the company is the owner.

Tbh, I just think it’s a pity that in 2024, we have a major designer, with everything that has been achieved so far, who is leaving because of strategic/relationships issues with the CEO.

And I have to say that a lot of people in the new generation of executives, particularly in France, lacks the culture to run a fashion business. When you see the energy of a Pietro Beccarri, you understand why he is where he is. You see Michael Burke, you understand why he was there. The same for Toledano.
One of the best fashion CEOs, Jean Louis Dumas, Domenico De Sole, achieved great success because they understood the culture, the products, they spent times with the makers, not only with the numbers.

Sometimes it’s simple: you spend time with a creative, you are taken by what’s going on, you believe in it and you end up being ready to do whatever to make it succeed.

It’s maybe what was missing in the Merle/Slimane relationship.

Surely Hedi did leave Celine because he has something bigger on the horizon: either be CHANEL, ARMANI or GUCCI: he’s been said to have moved in Milan. At least they are reporting

 

[Lola701]

Surely Hedi did leave Celine because he has something bigger on the horizon: either be CHANEL, ARMANI or GUCCI: he’s been said to have moved in Milan. At least they are reporting

Gucci seems very unlikely. And Armani too….
Armani is smaller than Celine and Gucci doesn’t even own their license. Plus, given the messy divorce with Kering that ended up with many lawsuits, I doubt they will go that route.
He must be clairvoyant if he anticipated Chanel months ago.

We don’t know yet how long The Weirthemers and Pavlovsky are going to wait 1 year to name a CD. Chanel is a possibility even though it’s not related to Milan at all.
Hedi going to Chanel will mean that he will compromise for the job.
His non compete will end in October 2025 so if he is joining Chanel and if the clause is applied, that means no show until probably January 2026.

 

[Kimihiro]

I don’t see a path for Hedi or Nicolas to go back to Kering unless there are big management changes or Kering implodes. Those were very messy divorces.

I could imagine Hedi at Gucci, it was floated before that he could replace Frida. He just doesn’t do Italian, even if I could see Armani a bit. Two menswear legends, that’s a good story. He could grow it, it’s been just floating around.

He must be clairvoyant if he anticipated Chanel months ago.

It’s obvious he’s gunning for the job, but if that’s the case then he knew Virginie must be leaving.

 

[yslforever]

Gucci seems very unlikely. And Armani too….
Armani is smaller than Celine and Gucci doesn’t even own their license. Plus, given the messy divorce with Kering that ended up with many lawsuits, I doubt they will go that route.
He must be clairvoyant if he anticipated Chanel months ago.

We don’t know yet how long The Weirthemers and Pavlovsky are going to wait 1 year to name a CD. Chanel is a possibility even though it’s not related to Milan at all.
Hedi going to Chanel will mean that he will compromise for the job.
His non compete will end in October 2025 so if he is joining Chanel and if the clause is applied, that means no show until probably January 2026.

I just wish Mr. Armani would give him one Armani Privé collection, as a residence.

 

[HigthaVandah]

CELINE is selling like hot cakes right now both the women and the mens: must truly be the HEDI halo effect….

I stopped into the Toronto Celine store while traveling this past weekend and the SA seemed surprised that I wanted to look at RTW. When I picked something out he rushed to ring me up (there wasn't anyone waiting for an SA) and seemed pleasantly surprised that I wanted to look at belts first.

No clothing at all(!) in the windows or main front room, and only two racks of RTW in the back. Virtually no menswear and zero tailoring displayed, unless you count a few chasseur jackets. They missed an opportunity to plant the seed for a future Hedi panic purchase (lol) from me. People were buying perfume, purses, and sunglasses, though. I understand Canada and even the US isn't a primary market for Celine, but this seems excessively low effort. Especially considering there is zero Celine presence in Montreal.

 

[XPreme]

I think Celine was already at 1 billion when Hedi joined. When he joined, Arnault told investors the goal was to grow it to 3 billion in 5 years. Hedi brought it to 2.5. A huge success, undoubtedly, but not a surprise - and still short of the high end of the goal. 🤭

Maybe that could be it. But there is one thing to consider. When Hedi took over Celine, the corona pandemic was just beginning. Total lockdown in Europe and Asia. For almost a year. That was really bad luck for him. Nobody talks about the fact that this year was economically dead. Everyone said back then that Hedi would never be able to be successful with Celine. And now everyone is amazed. Hedi didn't do anything wrong. If anyone did anything wrong, it was the one who made false promises to investors.