Hedi Slimane - Designer

[Lola701]

Agreed (also the thought of Alaia by Hedi making me want to cringe), but if it had to be a niche maison, in my personal preference it would have to be Brioni and not Jitrois, simply because I never bought any of Hedi's leather jackets and think his tailoring is where the true magic is at.

But isn’t the point of Hedi’s aesthetic the mix between formality and casual?
He would be too edgy for Brioni.

One of Hedi’s biggest talent is after years to convince men who couldn’t fit his clothes that they can, because of the cachet of his work.

Maybe I have a detached POV of his work but for me his work is tailoring, leather and jeans.

And the irony that we are talking about it as the other day, I saw an influencer in a leather blazer from him at Saint Laurent. The fit was perfect and she looked fabulous. I hunted like crazy and found one on Vestiaire Collective.

I know we are all just making suggestions not rooted in reality but I try to make my suggestions as far as possible from Kering considering their mutual and tumultuous history. I’m willing to blindly believe that the business man he is wouldn’t want to associate himself again with them.

And I also believe that today’s expectations from luxury demands a kind of more exclusive product. And Jitrois products are top quality. Terrible designs, questionable Art direction…The irony when Jitrois himself is a fan of Hedi but oh well.


I just hope that Hedi’s next project will be similar to what Tom Ford did when he launched his brand. Totally excessive and obsessive in it quality and the execution of the concept.

But could it be really a challenge for him?

Armani seems like the most interesting challenge. They have a full Couture line, lifestyle interiors to food to flowers line…etc.

What would interest me in him taking over Armani is probably the only thing that his fan wouldn’t want to see: to have him actually embrace someone’s universe.

It would be more interesting to see an Armani store where the world of Hedi and Giorgio mix rather than another advanced version of the Dior Homme, Saint Laurent, Celine store with the Armani tag.

Ultimately, Hedi taking over a big brand and turning things upside down is not a challenge.

His non compete ended this year right? So maybe 2026 will inform the world on his next move.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

I don't see at all Hedi at Armani.
He is arguably the most influential menswear designer in the last 20 years, but Armani is the best one from the last 50 years.
That would be having the second best working for the best.

You all know that Hedi is incapable of adapting his aesthetic to someone else's vision. He needs a blank page, or almost, to express his world on it, at least in the menswear.
That is what he had at Dior and Celine and that is why it worked.

Having him imposing his silhouette on the house of Armani would like having Christian Dior at the house of Balenciaga doing corolle skirts and hourglass shapes instead of cocoon. Weird.

He needs to be brave and do like Phoebe: open his namesake brand.

 

[Caffeine]

After buying a few pieces from his Celine, wherever he goes, I'll follow

 

[NoInvite]

I miss how sharp he was, we definitely don't have that right now in fashion.
Everything is so cute and Loic Prigent, Lyas, Jonathan Jonathan so on so on. Happy happy.
What he does at the show sparks conversation, what's in the store were realistic. It was what he does best.
He doesn't need another house, a house needs him! I wished it was Chanel, now that had sailed with MB (let's see how is the voyage) would have been amazing at Gucci, but it's a tough gig. But Armani, I'm intrigued. But if nothing happens, his SLP era will already be enough memory of the good times. Everything was so revolutionary, aaaah 2012. Those were the days.

 

[Caffeine]

The owners should just fire LN then hire a numbers guy + Hedi to start over. This post covid shrinkflation thing damages the brand too much.

 

[PDFSD]

The owners should just fire LN then hire a numbers guy + Hedi to start over. This post covid shrinkflation thing damages the brand too much.

I feel they will ..2 years will be over soon the 3th year it will be clear MB is not the right fit for the house and Hedi made sense all along.

Chanel just needed to be sharper and touch of edge, not this crafty mess woke happy days of confusion.

Chanel nr 1 strong point is longevity of its stylistic codes not costume, codes that can always fit with the now and past , its the idea of what classic menswear is but for woman.

Those that get it do.... for those that dont there are other things out there for you.

 

[PDFSD]

Susanna Nicoletti​

Why we need more Hedi Slimane in Fashion
We always talk about innovation and modernization in the industry and then brands and their managers do not have the courage to face the reality: there are very little real creative directors left able to develop a brand vision and to have a “tribe” following them and opening their wallets to buy items full price as well as to have the know how and savoir faire about building beautifully crafted collections while being culturally relevant today because they are cultivated and very committed professionals.
The “youngest” ones are not ready see Vitale boom and bust because commercially disconnected from the market.

If we go through the glorious work at Dior Homme and Celine we can see that if well and properly managed Slimane contribution to a brand is truly precious and his styles timeless.
He is the only one thanks to whom sales have constantly increased in all the categories he worked on.
Hopefully he will be back in track soon.
Because nobody remembers the Blazy or Lee silhouettes at BV (and sales never peak with them) nor the Michele at Valentino or the Maximilian Davis or the De Sarno and the likes but everybody remembers some Dior and Celine looks forever.
It is not by chance that Karl Lagerfeld decided to lose weight to wear Dior Homme by Slimane also for the Chanel finale.

Will Leena Nair rethink the creative director decision at Chanel when they will see the drop in sales generated by Blazy?
Will the Giorgio Armani top management finally have the courage to do a bold step and restart with a bang?
2026 will be a key year for established brands survival and they need to restart working on the fundamentals starting with seasoned designers able to have vision and craft but also honest with who they are: creatives and not destroyers.

Slimane is one of the last who can do the full stack: build a world, not just a silhouette, craft + casting + image + “tribe.” But the real question is whether houses still have the patience (and spine) to let a vision compound over seasons instead of chasing quarterly novelty.
If 2026 is survival mode, fundamentals means consistency, not constant reinvention.

Whether or not one appreciates his aesthetic, his ability to align ROI with a strong personal vision and coherent brand building is exceptional.

 

[Creative]

Hedi mon amour. I just need him in fashion, same as KL. Maybe you don’t like their collections but they are necessary. It is a must to have his POV somewhere.

What I really miss is him giving interviews. He’s smart in a way no one is these days.

But we leave in a world where smart people are better with their mouths closed. The cancellation imposed by low IQ people is impossible to deal with.

I am sad cause I never met KL irl and I’ll be very sad if don’t meet Hedi. Sounds so delulu but he reminds me so much of me

 

[Foxie-Pooh]

Azzedine had been a great supporter and the admiration was mutual. It would be fantastic to see Hedi bring Alaia back to their roots

 

[PDFSD]

Azzedine had been a great supporter and the admiration was mutual. It would be fantastic to see Hedi bring Alaia back to their roots

this picture has healing properties

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

This makes more sense to me than Armani.

Beyond the Tunisian connection, Hedi would have carte blanche for the menswear and could do a 360 overhaul, expanding all the potential of Alaïa.
His big challenge would be to do a womenswear that feels convincingly Alaïa.
But both Hedi and Azzedine shared sharpness and precision.
And anyways Hedi's career is based in challenges that he always won in the end.

 

[Grets]

"It'S A STRANGE period," said Azzedine Alaïa as we spoke, before and after his show, about the recent upheavals in the fashion world. Like so many people in Paris, Azzedine's interest was not what Anthony Vaccarello would do as newly appointed designer at Saint Laurent, but what will happen to the outgoing designer, the fiercely fastidious, Los Angeles-based Hedi Slimane."I want to see what Hedi is going to do," Alaïa said. "I would be very surprised if he went back to Dior [where Slimane was menswear designer from 2000-2007]. But I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to Chanel. He's friends again with Karl after they fell out, and it would not be stupid for him to come back to Karl - at Chanel. He could start with menswear and then take over the ready-to-wear and then he might take over completely..."Azzedine's gentle voice faded away. Being only six years younger than Karl, 82, both must feel intimations of mortality - or at least a realisation that such intense work cannot go on forever. I asked Alaïa, 40 years a designer, what he thinks has changed. "It's a strange time," he replied. "A stylist like Hedi could start his own house under his own name - he has earned a fortune. But he wants the security of being at an existing house. He's only been two or three years at Saint Laurent and they have invested a lot. Now someone else will come in and want to change it all again."

https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/suzy-on-azzedine-alaia-aw-2016-ready-to-wear

 

[jeanclaude]

I can understand they were friends...but I cannot see Hedi making dresses for Alaïa at all. He is more tailoring material.

 

[Kimihiro]

Unless suddenly he becomes very good with dresses… no.