Hedi Slimane - Designer

[Lola701]

I don't know where else to post it but Karl has responded.

September 15, 2015
Karl Lagerfeld Responds to Pierre Bergé Charges
By Miles Socha

t*t FOR TAT: Karl Lagerfeld has a piece of advice for Pierre Bergé, who in December is to start auctioning off his personal library of rare literature, manuscripts and musical scores. “He should stick with his old books,” Lagerfeld said when asked to respond to a recent interview in which the former Yves Saint Laurent boss sharply criticized two successors of the late couturier — Tom Ford and Stefano Pilati — and the German designer, long pitted against Saint Laurent throughout his career.

“Karl’s problem is the following: it’s like two starlets in the theater or cinema, when one becomes Marilyn Monroe and the other is a nobody,” Bergé told Suzy Menkes in the interview, published on international Vogue Web sites. “I like Karl a lot — I’ve known him forever. He is really cultivated and very intelligent. Karl’s big problem is that he has never been successful with his own label. And he has not been able to reach the same level of success as under the name of Chanel. It is sad.”

Lagerfeld, in response to a question from WWD, noted that he hasn’t seen Bergé privately for 40 years — and he’s more than fine with that. “He’s from another era,” Lagerfeld said. “Times are not the same. He has to adapt to the times. The times don’t have to adapt to him. If he doesn’t like them, he should shut up and retire.”

Lagerfeld accepts that his signature house is nowhere near the scale of Chanel, but that was never his ambition. And neither did Saint Laurent approach that multibillion-dollar level with its fashion business. “He should be a little bit modest,” Lagerfeld said, noting that his own label — now positioned in the affordable luxury or masstige zone — is “exactly what I wanted from the beginning: not in ready-to-wear or couture. I wanted to have it different from Fendi and Chanel.”

Lagerfeld also defended Pilati and Ford, noting the former is doing a good job at Ermenegildo Zegna — and he appreciated his work at Saint Laurent, too. As for Ford, Lagerfeld noted that Bergé and company were “horrible” to him and it’s difficult to succeed when you only encounter “bad vibes.”

Of the two men, Bergé said: “I recognize a lot of talent from Tom Ford – but it is for marketing. And that he had, in effect, redone the Gucci brand in a spectacular fashion, and I have a lot of admiration for that. I will say to you again, ‘admiration.’ But he was incapable of succeeding at Yves Saint Laurent. Therefore it was, as you know, a flop. As for Pilati, it is better not to talk about it because it was nothing at all.”

Reached for their reactions, Ford and Pilati declined to comment.

wwd.com

 

[mepps]

My God... Yves Saint Laurent has his place in fashion history that's for certain. But to say that not a single person is at his level...? Are you f*cking kidding me...? That's so beyond even hyperbole on Berge's part. Gaultier, Galliano, McQueen, Tom Ford, Armani, Miuccia have all impacted fashion beyond what Yves was able to do. And those are just the individuals that I'm speaking of objectively and from a commercial perspective whom have become names that are recognized beyond high fashion fans. And for me, Hedi is so much more talented than Yves ever was.

I just can't. I'm dead.

 

[MulletProof]

Lola, thanks for posting and also for the brief summary of Pierre's antics in the last 20-30 years. A lot of people seem to enjoy the chuckles and probably enjoy the nastiness because it's quite toned down now and rare among designers these days, and forget (or probably are too young to know) that was the daily bread of fashion at least in the pre 00s, when magazines used to quote things straight out of a tea party of old rich bitter ladies with no occupation besides touching their rags, hug the person that made it and bicker at the ladies in the table next to them who were doing the same, except hugging a different designer. This is a relic of that, just some senile imbecile that can't function under new dynamics (as Karl called them) and still thinks praising means running over others. Sad, but I guess we can take this as a nice History Channel moment.

 

[mepps]

It's great to see Karl, sort of taking the high road, but Pierre's comments must have stung. What Pierre said about Stefano Pilati was just mean, as well as untrue. Tom Ford is great at marketing tho.

 

[Creative]

Karl's answer is so toned down. I expected more bitchiness from him.

 

[mistress_f]

lol, hedi must be all happy about this mess. Bergè's hate for Pilati has always been so profound and bitter, i don't think even Stefano cares about it at this point(by the way, there's an amazing interview with him in System mag).
As for his love for Hedi, having a vision - which is undeniable in his case - doesn't necessarily mean having a talent in designing womenswear (and menswear, which in his case is saved by great tailoring). Great stylists have strong visions, but that doesn't mean they'd be able to come up with exciting collections.

 

[Creative]

Pilati has talked about Bergé... He seems bitter.

 

[george5]

Saint Laurent Sales Surge Another 37% as Gucci Shows Signs of a Turnaround

Under the creative direction of Hedi Slimane, Saint Laurent saw its sales climb even higher over the summer.

Dhani Mau
Oct 23, 2015

As should come as a surprise to no one, Saint Laurent sales are still booming three years after Hedi Slimane took the creative reins. And in the third quarter of 2015, the Kering-owned brand truly outdid itself, posting a sales increase of 37 percent on a reported basis and 27 percent on a comparable basis. Sales were particularly strong in Saint Laurent's own stores — up 32 percent there, marking the brand's strongest quarter to date for retail, according to Kering CFO Jean-Marc Duplaix. The brand's wholesale sales weren't bad either — up 17 percent while they declined by 3 percent for the group overall.

While overshadowed a bit by Saint Laurent's gangbusters success, Gucci is also starting to build momentum under new Creative Director Alessandro Michele (pronounced Mee-kell-ay, according to Duplaix, who said the name during Thursday afternoon's earnings webcast). The designer's cruise collection filtered into stores in mid-September and sales are up a respectable 9 percent on a reported basis, while they remained flat on a comparable basis. This is still a good sign, as it follows a period of declining sales for the brand. Duplaix was particularly proud that the brand's wholesale business decreased only 6 percent, a much smaller decrease than in previous periods.

Aside from Saint Laurent and Gucci, we were also curious about the progress at Balenciaga following the sudden departure of Creative Director Alexander Wang. Kering provided few details on that front, but did say its leather goods performance was "solid."

fashionista.com

 

[Benn98]

Why is it that I immediately thought Slimane could succeed Raf???? Twist!!!

Hedi Exiting YSL? Vaccarello Said in Wings
By Miles Socha
January 13, 2016

LONDON —* Speculation is mounting that Hedi Slimane may be poised to make his second exit from Yves Saint Laurent.

According to sources, the designer has so far failed to reach an agreement on the renewal of his initial contract with the Kering-owned fashion house and is preparing to part ways with a brand he revved up with his rock ‘n’ roll-inspired fashions and a top-to-bottom reform of the storied house.

What’s more, Saint Laurent is said to have identified a frontrunner to succeed Slimane and has held extensive talks with Anthony Vaccarello, a Belgian designer partial to the racy, fast-paced side of fashion, having been recruited by Donatella Versace for her reboot of the Versus brand. He was named its creative director last September.

Reached for comment, a Saint Laurent spokeswoman said the house “does not comment on rumors.”

Vaccarello could not immediately be reached for comment.

The possibility of a Slimane exit and designer change adds an extra dash of intrigue to the Saint Laurent men’s show scheduled for Jan. 24 at the tail end of men’s fashion week in Paris, typically a megaproduction akin to a rock concert, complete with a front row packed with musicians and Slimane groupies.

According to one source, Saint Laurent recently cancelled its usual venue, the Carreau du Temple, which Slimane secured for a multiseason exclusive after the Marais location underwent an extensive renovation.

It is understood the show will go on at a different place, and Slimane is also said to be working on the fall women’s collection, to be paraded here in early March. On Tuesday, Saint Laurent launched teaser videos featuring musicians and touting an event in Los Angeles on Feb. 10.

Should it come to pass, a Slimane exit would deliver another shock to the French fashion scene, wracked late last year by the exit of Raf Simons from Dior and the ousting of Alber Elbaz from Lanvin. Successors for those two houses have yet to be named.

Those dramatic changes seem to signal a seismic shift in the fashion industry, as star designers buckle under the pressures *and/or restrictions of an accelerating and high-stakes industry.

Slimane, who ushered in more than a decade of skinny tailoring with his overhaul of Dior Homme, exited that brand in 2007 and pursued a photography and art career before returning to the fashion fold in 2012 at the creative helm of YSL, which he rechristened Saint Laurent to return to the initial impulses in the Sixties that drove the late, legendary couturier to introduce ready-to-wear.

From his home base in Los Angeles, Slimane overhauled the house with a new collection architecture and graphic identity; a widely copied store concept involving acres of veiny marble and gleaming shelves; and influential, mostly black-and-white campaigns lensed by the designer himself featuring a cast of music personalities and edgy models.

While he received some barbs from critics for repetitive collections inspired by grunge and other music subcultures, Saint Laurent under Slimane charted rapid growth, outpacing most other designer brands as the luxury sector entered a period of more moderate expansion.

In the third quarter, revenues at Saint Laurent vaulted by 26.6 percent on a comparable basis to 243.4 million euros, or $270.8 million. Retail sales were up 32 percent in the quarter, with even Mainland China recording a sharp increase, a testament to ongoing customer demand for the brand’s $5,000 biker jackets and $2,000 leather satchels.

By contrast, organic sales at Gucci, which accounts for more than a third of total revenues at Kering, fell 0.4 percent during the three-month period while revenues at Bottega Veneta were up 4.3 percent on a comparable basis.

Reflecting the increasing role of Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta in the group’s growth, Kering appointed Saint Laurent ceo Francesca Bellettini and Bottega Veneta ceo Carlo Alberto Beretta as new members of its executive committee. Kering is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 19.

Saint Laurent revealed in March 2012 that Slimane would rejoin the house as its creative director, a dozen years after he exited YSL Rive Gauche Pour Homme to heat up Dior Homme. At that time, Elbaz helmed YSL Rive Gauche for women in the wake of the founder’s retirement from rtw.

Slimane was granted total creative responsibility for the brand image and all its collections, succeeding Stefano Pilati after a fruitful, if turbulent, eight-year tenure for the Italian designer, who would go on to join Ermenegildo Zegna.

“As one of the most important French fashion houses, Yves Saint Laurent today possesses formidable potential, which I am confident will be successfully harnessed and revealed through the vision of Hedi Slimane,” François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of YSL parent Kering, stated at the time of the appointment.

Slimane’s return to the fashion spotlight — and foray into women’s wear — generated much excitement in the French capital, especially as Raf Simons, another men’s wear power player and proponent of minimalism, was shortly after named the couturier at Dior, succeeding John Galliano.

An art history graduate from the Ecole du Louvre, Slimane emerged from fashion’s shadows during his first stint at YSL. Hired as an assistant in fashion marketing at YSL in 1997 and then quickly promoted to designer, Slimane successfully revved up the label’s Rive Gauche Homme collection with sleek, androgynous tailoring: leather trenchcoats, pinch-waist suits and plunging shirts. He was a pioneer in inviting contemporary artists like Ugo Rondinone to put works in YSL stores, positing his clothes in a broader cultural context.

Slimane resigned from YSL in 2000 to pursue exclusive negotiations with its parent, then known as Gucci Group, for the launch of his own label. He ended up signing on with luxury rival Dior, embarking on an ambitious project that electrified men’s wear with his glitzy fashion shows and minimalist boutiques.

Slimane has been floated as a possible successor to Simons at Dior, although sources close to the house describe such an appointment as unlikely, given his penchant for demanding a wide creative birth. At present, Dior has Kris Van Assche designing men’s wear, Victoire de Castellane in charge of high jewelry, Peter Marino masterminding the store architecture — and a host of famous ambassadors, including Jennifer Lawrence and Marion Cotillard.

Slimane is said to covet control over YSL’s beauty business, but he does not hold any sway with the operation, controlled by L’Oréal, which acquired the business in 2008. As a result, he has distanced himself from its products and marketing messages.

Born in Brussels, Vaccarello studied sculpture at La Cambre, and came onto the international fashion radar in 2006 when he won first place at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography for his collection inspired by Italian p*rn star La Cicciolina.

He subsequently went on to work at Fendi and in 2009 launched his namesake collection in Paris, where he continues to show. Two years later, he scooped the ANDAM fashion award.

Impressed by his provocatively sexy and audacious styles, Donatella Versace in 2013 tapped him as a guest designer for her revamped Versus brand. Last September, she named him the creative director of Versus, putting him in charge of the men’s and women’s collections under her supervision. His first full collection was for fall 2015 retailing. Like Slimane, he has a penchant for severe, razor-sharp designs that look best on a thin figure.

Source: WWD.com

 

[RedSmokeRise]

So I guess there's no men's show in Paris?

Saint Laurent at the Palladium

“Saint Laurent at the Palladium” Los Angeles February 10th 2016

“Saint Laurent at the Palladium” The Saint Laurent Los Angeles show
Saint Laurent fall 2016 men and women part 1 will be presented in Los Angeles on February 10th 2016.
‘‘Saint Laurent at the palladium’’ will be presented during the week of the 58th Grammy music awards in Los Angeles.

Saint Laurent fall 2016 women part 2 will still be presented in Paris on march 7 th 2016.

The Hollywood Palladium is a historical concert and dance venue located on 6215 Sunset Boulevard. It is allegedly the oldest and largest concert venue in Hollywood.

Frank Sinatra was the first performer on stage at the Hollywood palladium when it opened on October 30th 1940. Sinatra was succeeded by decades of iconic performances from artists including the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Guns N’ Roses, Prince and many others.

‘‘Saint Laurent at the Palladium’’ is a tribute to the strong music scene in Los Angeles and is the second project of Hedi Slimane in Los Angeles after his exhibition ‘‘California Song’’, at the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art in November 2011. For almost a decade, Hedi Slimane has thoroughly documented, supported and championed the emerging California music scene.

Hedi Slimane has instigated the idea of California, his home since 2008, as a territory of design exploration for luxury brands, following his philosophy he installed his Saint Laurent studio in west Hollywood in 2012.

Creating a high fashion design studio in Los Angeles, just like Yves Saint Laurent did when he designed from Marrakesh, was novel in 2012. Since then, the city has started to attract more and more high fashion projects.

2016 marks the 10 year anniversary of the ‘‘Hedi Slimane Diary”. A photography blog that has mostly documented emerging music over the last decade; from London and the golden age of Brit rock in the mid ‘00s to the birth of the L.A. Surf sound generation in 2008.

The Hedi Slimane diary was a 2006 proto-form of what we have now in scrapbook style social media; an accumulation of intimate, narrative and documentary photographs. An interpretation of a written daily diary through photography. The content from the Hedi Slimane diary was presented in numerous museum exhibitions around the world for the last 10 years (Berlin Kunst-Werke in 2004, New York PS1 in 2004, MUSAC Spain in 2008, foam museum in amsterdam in 2007, L.A. MOCA in 2011 and Sonic in Paris in 2014).

The ‘‘Saint Laurent at the Palladium’’ video campaign is about the progression of Hedi Slimane’s diary into a new motion portraiture format. The ‘‘portrait video’’, a short video portraying a musician or an artist with a fast and energetic edit, almost chrono-photographic. The format is being introduced now with the Saint Laurent palladium project to mark the 10 year anniversary of Hedi Slimane’s diary.

source - facebook/ysl

 

[Creative]

Nothing against Hedi leaving YSL. What really PERPLEX me is Vacarello being considered his successor. Are we crazzzzzy or what???

 

[ogepma]

I hope this is true, at least the part about Hedi leaving. I am not sure Vaccarello will be a good fit at YSL. He hasn't proved himself enough with his own brand yet. Would love to see Raf finally do YSL, at YSL.

 

[Creative]

My dream is Nicolas at YSL.

 

[tricotineacetat]

You don't need to be a fan of the current Saint Laurent to think it would be stupid of Mr. Pinault to let Slimane go. Let the guy take control over the image of YSL cosmetics if he so desires - He's proven a good hand making his re-branded Saint Laurent sell, why shouldn't it work just as well with lipsticks and eyeshadow? A big brand like this you cannot entrust to a one trick pony emerging designer like Vaccarello, it demands a level of know-how to micro-management every angle of the business. And that is, undoubtly, a quality that Hedi Slimane perfected like no other.

 

[mistress_f]

who hates the YSL brand so much they'd consider putting Vaccarello at the helm? Bergè himself? what a nightmarish scenario

 

[Lola701]

As much as i don't like what he is doing there (i'm becoming more and more indifferent about it), I don't like the idea of him leaving the brand right now. After all the dramas, all the drastic changes...WHY??

I believe this is false because i can't imagine that Pinault will let go Hedi when he is doing so good.
I'm all for him being in charges of the beauty business (i think that was a mistake from Kering to give it to L'Oreal). YSL Beauté is a mess right now and Hedi created some of the best perfumes of those last 16 years.

Like Creative, my dream would be Nicolas for YSL (and for Chanel) but i remember reading a recent interview of him saying that he is not interested in YSL because it was a "too clean" fashion house. And we all know that he will never work with Kering again.

VACCARELLO? Seriously? What a joke!
The same for SIMONS, i don't want him at YSL...

Christophe Decarnin for Saint Laurent, that would be major

 

[squilliam]

I don't want this house ruined by vacarello or some new sexy rock/normcore designer. I don't want ysl to become the next balmain. A classic yet innovative designer like alber would be good, I guess maybe gaultier or lacroix too, their work sorta resembles ysl

 

[Spike413]

While I'm not at all into the idea of Hedi leaving -- because it's honestly pretty ludicrous to let him from a sales/branding/PR standpoint if nothing else -- I don't entirely hate the idea of Vaccarello as a speculated successor. I'll agree with tricotineacetat that he doesn't have the level of training or experience necessary to cope with all aspects of being a creative director of a huge luxury brand, but on a design level I actually think he could be interesting.

The man clearly knows how to cut a fierce silhouette, and regardless of how easily one could write off his "sexy/sl*tty rock star" aesthetic, the fact is that those microscopic dresses of his with their slashed-to-the-hipbone look definitely are a case of something being more than meets the eye. Those pieces are engineered properly, and that's not quite as simple as just "slash that open". No, he doesn't have quite the range of some other designers, but an extremely specific and fully realized point of view is attractive to people if buzz and sales are anything to go by; Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balmain, Rick Owens, Givenchy...those are the brands that, for better or for worse, are making bank and being worn all over the place these days.

 

[Scotty]

I don't want this house ruined by vacarello or some new sexy rock/normcore designer. I don't want ysl to become the next balmain. A classic yet innovative designer like alber would be good, I guess maybe gaultier or lacroix too, their work sorta resembles ysl

Hasn't that already happened tho? I'm sure they're not gonna go back to the Classic YSL or "YSL with the Y" again, that would kinda be a flop. they're probably just gonna continue with the thing there is atm.

 

[IndigoHomme]

IMO, this 'LA show' sounds like the Marc Jacobs 'couture funeral' at Louis Vuitton...