Hedi Slimane - Designer

[Grets]

Hot take. Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme is the best era of Dior ever. I love Galliano, but Hedi is above fashion. He is style.

 

[HigthaVandah]

Popping in from my self-imposed tfs break to thank you all for sharing your rumors/insights/speculations!

And good to see you back, PDFSD : )

 

[reese06]

Hot take. Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme is the best era of Dior ever. I love Galliano, but Hedi is above fashion. He is style.

They’re incomparable and there’s a reason why no one does.

Galliano reinvented Dior’s vision of women and Hedi redefined men and how they dress to this day. One was couture fantasy, the other was razor cut realism.

 

[Lola701]

Hot take. Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme is the best era of Dior ever. I love Galliano, but Hedi is above fashion. He is style.

Are they comparable?
Hedi’s Dior has almost nothing to do with Christian Dior…

 

[PDFSD]

because dior has little to do with menswear so what he could use he did and the rest is imagend and open to interpretation.

also his design philosophy was different at the time more about modernity and movement then reviving the house codes to a T .

i think MGC was the most consistently Dior how ever monotone or boring it was .
many things galiano did he did before joining dior he just added the bar jacket and the archive into it

JWA is doing a more dept research of dior but the outcome is just to quirky so it gets lost but all the research is clever just not used well with one missing element beauty of dior the instantly readable as pretty instead he is just doing cutsey quirky.

most modern as pure as can be dior was raf first HC collection so far.

 

[Lola701]

because dior has little to do with menswear so what he could use he did and the rest is imagend and open to interpretation.

also his design philosophy was different at the time more about modernity and movement then reviving the house codes to a T .

i think MGC was the most consistently Dior how ever monotone or boring it was .
many things galiano did he did before joining dior he just added the bar jacket and the archive into it

JWA is doing a more dept research of dior but the outcome is just to quirky so it gets lost but all the research is clever just not used well with one missing element beauty of dior the instantly readable as pretty instead he is just doing cutsey quirky.

most modern as pure as can be dior was raf first HC collection so far.

So saying that Hedi’s Dior is a best Dior is quite paradoxal.
It could be the best Hedi but in the frame of the house, it’s a different story…Even detached from Christian Dior Monsieur.

 

[PDFSD]

So saying that Hedi’s Dior is a best Dior is quite paradoxical.
It could be the best Hedi but in the frame of the house, it’s a different story…Even detached from Christian Dior Monsieur.

For menswear at Dior he has been and still is the best so far that happened there ...this i agree....he practically made it a believable part of dior universe as brand and business.

Again with the little Dior has to do with menswear univers.

He never did womens wear so apart for some ladies in his suits, but it does not count for me.

but i like paradoxical statements on here it what makes me come back

i think dior has a fast fashion problem it changed with every CD and has not benefited like chanel from a more constant reinstating of codes beside the easy to see bar jackets or the gannage

i think many don't even see grey and think of dior per example the house codes tend to be there
as fillers

i am sure if Hedi came back to Dior the house would be more classic then what he did first time.
the clean stiff HC cultural stuff he likes to do was there in dior also

 

[Caffeine]

lol the guy is a like KL a work machine

he is very on time with his collections he already proved it with Celine´s multitude of collections drops and production value that comes with those collection and ad films all timed perfectly etc

this is not an issue.

Regarding out of ideas is like asking Ralph Lauren or Coco Chanel to change like Miuccia prada evers 6 months, Hedi pride himself on consistency and not changing so the project would not be about every season doing a complete 360 fashion but a gradual one.

Lets not forget Dior himself was only for 10 years if MGC can survive 9 years long Hedi will 2 at Dior

Any ways hedi proved his Dior already and nobody can take that time away it was iconic, even if one did not like the clothes.

he is weak for evening but so is JWA if i had to choose i rather look like mother of the bride than wearing JWA dior and look like a bag of salt meme.

I mean, jwa and even less so Blazy are certainly not the same level of designers as Hedi. Why do we even compare them?

 

[fruitdots]

First time scrolling mensfashion on reddit - instant Superfuture flashback. The archetypes are still there, just warped: Street Ninja and Blade-Runner Librarian in endless rotation. The only real update is a flare at the hem. That tells me the well of inspiration is dry and everyone’s still orbiting Dior Homme - Hedi’s era remains the last truly defining moment for early-20s cool.

There’s Rick everywhere, too. But who’s still wearing Rick in 2025? I did the Geobaskets with Riccardo-era Givenchy when it was so new nobody considered it a hit.

We do need a fresh, seismic reset in men’s RTW. Is Hedi the one to deliver it? No - he’s a very specific look. Until a new visionary redraws the silhouette, give me timeless Hedi clothes - carved like an obelisk.

I see far more Raf Simons in contemporary menswear than Hedi. So much of the past decade was prefigured by Raf's 90s & 2000s collections—they really anticipate everything from Vetements to Daniel Lee's Bottega (and then Mathieu's Bottega too, as a protege of Raf). A lot of Hedi's collections feel dead now, and he doesn't really have protegés, does he? Lucas Ossendrijver? His menswear might actually be closer to the contemporary than Hedi's.

 

[Kanzai]

^ I think Raf and his approach is kinda generic, influenced by Helmut Lang and Margiela so it's no wonder it seems more "modern" and "contemporary". I think in 2025 people will say that "sleek" and "sensual" fashion, with cuts and fabrics combinations that scream expensive will be considered corny and passé. Hedi thrived in the Vogue Paris era so his style is very obsessive about specific contexts and aesthetics and Idk how to say it but it's like you have to do a lot of mental work to wear his clothes, unless you're carefully mix-matching them with clothes from other designers and not wearing full look Dior Homme/Saint Laurent/Celine. Raf is lucky because he has had the opportunity to work at important houses, but I don't think he is a better and more "modern" menswear designer than his contemporaries with a somewhat similar punk/moody/soft-rawness/modern approaches like Ann Demeulemeester, Lucas, Jun Takahashi, Chitose Abe, Neil Barrett and younger designers like Damir Doma, Demna.

 

[Nimsay]

Raf retconning stops today. Im not letting you turn him into a Helmut Lang or Jil Sander. Raf has always sucked even back when he was supposedly good. A bunch of unwearable but still nothing to look at strapless hoop skirts are nothing important in fashion. How do you manage to make it unwearable and boring - Raf has a unique skillset thats for sure.

Someone here told me that CK putting themselves out of business for Raf was evidence that his Dior was so good. Very unserious takes.

 

[PDFSD]

i dont see Hedi chasing to be contemporary as in the box of design , he wants to be of this time a youthful but niche expressionas He is known for mining the lo-fi music scene into or what ever wave that is upcoming even as they die out just as fast the goal is to be the first to be part of it .

Raf likes techno Hedi likes indie rock some where kraftwerk and david bowie makes them meet in the middle but that's it.

 

[PDFSD]

I mean, jwa and even less so Blazy are certainly not the same level of designers as Hedi. Why do we even compare them?

Because one did dior home in the past and one is doing it now
For blazy its the chanel link KL loved Hedi but Blazy became the chosen one for the company

We cant be sure Hedi was never considered for chanel at one point by the company.

comparison is not equal too always , it depends on context its like saying if i had to choose between a kelly or chanel classic i know what my choice would be even if technically they are not same function or construction style etc .

 

[tricotineacetat]

Can we perhaps just agree that all the young men that debuted in this year suck and that both Hedi and Raf have each rightfully earned their place in contemporary fashion history in a way that (hopefully) neither of what Blazy/Lee/Rider/Anderson designed will come close to?

All I keep wondering about is why Patrick van Ommeslaeghe was never courted to helm a storied maison, when his talent clearly surpasses that of the aforementioned.

 

[Phuel]

...if i had to choose i rather look like mother of the bride than wearing JWA dior and look like a bag of salt meme.

LOL Those bags of salt are only for the well-paid ambassadors to wear on the red carpet. The lowly paying suckers will have to settle for the outlet basic merch of preppie-style monogrammed boarding school sweaters, stonewashed jeans and moccasins. Are the Junya Watanabe cargo shorts available at retail? Or are they only for the likes of Ye and his son? I despise the marketing and branding of JW’s Dior. Admittedly, my own distain for JW has his Dior especially more cynical than any other brand’s, But truth is he’s not the worst: His is a mockery of fashion. But like Jeff Koons, it’s a very well-produced mockery with a POV (…that is, if a woman likes to have a huge unsightly hole in a heavy shapeless form with all the construction and design finesse of a PVC shower curtain as a POV. Compare that to Tom Ford’s light as air jersey dress with the strategically placed opening right on a women’s pelvis bone to accentuate the curve of her hip. JW’s the sledgehammer of design-- but that's the mood of fashion right now). Still, someone like Michael Rider deserves our wraith more than JW: His Celine is just so pointless, an utter department-store curation of picked over discounted rejects at the local outlet mall. The logo’d merch will likely sell, but who’s going to drop $9,000USD on one of his generic coats?

Anyway, Hedi’s brand of timelessness is still heads above what’s become of Ralph Lauren’s version of timelessness, frankly. Ralph hasn’t been remotely lifestyle-inspiring for well over a decade now. And it hasn’t been visually aspirations since the Bruce Weber days. Of course if any man is just looking for a proper bird’s eye suit to wear to a traditional wedding, and a woman is looking for dinner suit for any occasion, then Ralph will always be that accessible label. But that WASP of Mayflower Americana heritage that made the brand such a statement despite selling generic Americanwear has long been co-opted to increase profit margins-- so now the WASPy image has been co-opted by every POC LMFAO I still like Ralph Lauren, but Thom Browne cuts a meaner and superior Prince of Wales suit. And not even at his best, could Ralph best Hedi. Hedi's detractors will dismiss him as a weak womenswear designer, and perhaps so. But for the discerning women that doesn’t particularly care for excess volume/flowing froufrou/overly-complicated drapes and even sillier cuts and proportions, then even Hedi’s menswear seems such a supreme alternative to all the desperate nonsense. Sometimes being too hardcore fashion-sophisticated really turns one into a silly cartoon— like Daniel Roseberry’s women, and Raf’s Prada women, and I don’t like to say it since he’s really so much superior to Raf and Daniel— Ghesquiere’s Vuitton women. (...I suspect it's that MAS person that's the Wormtongue to Ghesquiere's Theoden. Get rid of her.)

 

[susseinmcswanny]

All I keep wondering about is why Patrick van Ommeslaeghe was never courted to helm a storied maison, when his talent clearly surpasses that of the aforementioned.

It’s cuz the pronunciation of his name makes no f*cking sense

 

[Kanzai]

Anyway, Hedi’s brand of timelessness is still heads above what’s become of Ralph Lauren’s version of timelessness, frankly. Ralph hasn’t been remotely lifestyle-inspiring for well over a decade now. And it hasn’t been visually aspirations since the Bruce Weber days. Of course if any man is just looking for a proper bird’s eye suit to wear to a traditional wedding, and a woman is looking for dinner suit for any occasion, then Ralph will always be that accessible label. But that WASP of Mayflower Americana heritage that made the brand such a statement despite selling generic Americanwear has long been co-opted to increase profit margins-- so now the WASPy image has been co-opted by every POC LMFAO I still like Ralph Lauren, but Thom Browne cuts a meaner and superior Prince of Wales suit. And not even at his best, could Ralph best Hedi.

This! Ralph is respected for his brand-building, but he explicitly borrows from a codified image of inherited wealth to construct his brand image. That obnoxious qUIeT LuxURY trend made him even more beloved, since his aesthetic turns crowds learning fashion through TikTok/Reels/Shorts into East Coast suburban old-money wannabes lol. I also agree that Bruce Weber elevated Ralph’s influence and made him more visible within the industry – because, let’s be honest, among the true giants of American fashion (NYC fashion in particularly), he’s never quite been on the same level as Calvin Klein or Donna Karan. I love his Double RL line though, good Wild West vibes.

And Patrick van Ommeslaeghe for Lacroix would be dope!

 

[Kanzai]

Sometimes being too hardcore fashion-sophisticated really turns one into a silly cartoon— like Daniel Roseberry’s women, and Raf’s Prada women, and I don’t like to say it since he’s really so much superior to Raf and Daniel— Ghesquiere’s Vuitton women. (...I suspect it's that MAS person that's the Wormtongue to Ghesquiere's Theoden. Get rid of her.)

Wow didn't read this part. The way you use parentheses reminds me of how Nabokov wrote Lolita (not quite his level of humour, but still, lol). I love that LOTR reference, Theoden of Rohan is one of my favorite characters and I also like Nicolas 😂. But MAS deserves better than being compared to that f*cking Wormtongue.