Hedi Slimane exits Saint Laurent; Anthony Vaccarello hired

[MulletProof]

That's a bit like being offered replacing Mick Jagger for the Rolling Stones. You have the sold out shows, the fans, classic songs you just have to memorise, lots of money and will never have to worry about the struggles of being signed by a label. Sounds great and maybe not boring in practise, but most likely super depressing in hindsight later in life, and only because the idea of too many risks or plain laziness/greed got in the way. And I can only imagine what a waste it would be if someone like Dries Van Noten (to put an example) had fallen for that when he started out, he'd probably be semi forgotten and a little hated by now, after a few years at like.. Vionnet or.. Ungaro.

I think Hedi's just more in the school of Pierre, Karl.. fashion=big old houses and everything else is a little inferior.

 

[tangerine]

Karl has his own brand right now ... it seems it may not be very well known Certainly it doesn't have a strong identity (unless under the radar is an identity), and it apparently can't hold a candle to the others. Now maybe things would be different if it had his full attention a la Marc Jacobs ...

There are some assumptions in this thread that Slimane has more than one note that he would undoubtedly be able to deploy at another house ... I would like to see proof of that. And perhaps I will ...

...

Oh, I know about Karl's label, I tried to allude to it when I said (italics for emphasis

Karl could as well just be his own brand...

As far as whether Hedi will ever care (or be able) to develop other aesthetics besides the one he has specialized in to date, we are all waiting to see.

 

[george5]

Building a brand from the ground is really not easy, takes a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of risks.

This. It's really much more complicated than It seems. There are tons of Designers who even though tried their best and were in some aspects even more talented than Hedi, They still couldn't make it; and You have to take into consideration that Jil Sander, Dries, Margiela and all those Designers who began their careers with their own Fashion house a lot of things were quite different (Economy, times, the whole context...). To start Fashion house it's not like You prepare some Lemonade and sell it for 1 buck in front of your house.

 

[Lola701]

Yes, it's very difficult to build a brand...even more with those superstars designers.
I think that we totally saw it with Tom Ford. He waited 5 years to do womenswear. The type of menswear Hedi does is at the same level as any womens RTW. Plus, those huge brands offers a lot a visibilty...

Karl started his own brand because of the people he worked with at Chloe who couldn't make it to Chanel. He doesn't even own his brand. It didn't have a vision from the start even if it's a much more successful (in terms of business) today.

I don't think that Hedi, Nicolas or others will start their own brand...ever!
Look at Decarnin, he went to an existing brand and changed everything...even if he brought his Balmain team with him.

 

[donyan]

That Harvard article...


The only downside of Vaccarello going in is that.. well.. if it had been someone like Lutz Huelle for instance, the shallow, old-fashioned, petulant, basic stylist notion of womenswear that Hedi from his first show to the last one would've been magnified and remained undebatable. Instead, someone like Vaccarello makes it seem like f*cking Gerhard Richter has just abandoned the building.. so now we'll have to inhale "the myth, the legend" talk and Saint Laurent by Hedi nostalgia from years to come, just like Dior Homme. We're already doing it, so many 'let's just admit that he revolutionized the system'.. and no, he didn't.

the sad thing is they would not have thought of Lutz Huelle in a million years, and I would have LIVED for him doing SL, how perfect would that have been?

 

[Urban Stylin]

Safe to say that they made the right decision, his aesthetic is more in sync with the YSL signature, maybe a younger version

arcstreet

 

[Steddycam91]

Safe to say that they made the right decision, his aesthetic is more in sync with the YSL signature, maybe a younger version

bustle.com

 

[Creative]

^OMG, that gif.

Those Vaccarello clothes are super basic! A white cotton T-shirt styled with a loincloth, or a blazer as a dress... So lame. He will have to step his game up.

In a way I feel sorry for him.

 

[Lola701]

^^
It's not like Hedi's clothes weren't super basic.
I can't feel sorry for Anthony. I'm almost thankful that he is coming after Hedi rather than Stefano or Tom.
Ok, Saint Laurent was cool and appealing...very "grand public" but the level of design was beyond low.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

No doubt it's nice to have someone else's money to use, but I can think of another reason that might appeal to him, and that is having the prestige of designing for the biggest and most storied fashion houses.

Karl could as well just be his own brand, but he likes working with Chanel and Fendi. Who knows, maybe Karl defines the role that Hedi aspires to, figuratively as well as literally.

i do not think at all Karl could be his own brand. ( And when i say brand, i mean the likes of a Tom Ford, not that abomination that is KARL) Take him out of the context of an established fashion house and as we've seen he becomes grotesquely out of touch. On the other hand Hedi is nothing but his own brand regardless of the name at the door.

Frankly i cannot imagine why anyone knowing that they have a chance to create a successful luxury label think it's more prestigious to work for an historic fashion house, more convenient, oh yes, but prestigious? Who would want to be a Karl when you can be a Yves Saint Laurent?

 

[Lola701]

i do not think at all Karl could be his own brand. ( And when i say brand, i mean the likes of a Tom Ford, not that abomination that is KARL) Take him out of the context of an established fashion house and as we've seen he becomes grotesquely out of touch. On the other hand Hedi is nothing but his own brand regardless of the name at the door.

Frankly i cannot imagine why anyone knowing that they have a chance to create a successful luxury label think it's more prestigious to work for an historic fashion house, more convenient, oh yes, but prestigious? Who would want to be a Karl when you can be a Yves Saint Laurent?

You made a point but the trajectory of a lot of major designers today is closer to Karl than it is to Yves.
YSL was fired by Dior. Because of that, he created his own fashion house.
Karl worked during more than 20 years for various brands and for Chloé before starting his own brand, while working for 2 other brands. It says a lot about his priorities. Starting his own brand wasn't obviously his priority.

In the past 16 years, Alber was the only major designer who was fired (i don't count Frida Giannini) twice from major fashion houses.

It's easier to be Karl than to be Yves simply because to be Yves, you have to have a Pierre Bergé. Like to be Valentino, you needs to have a Giancarlo giametti. Tom Ford has Domenico De Sole.
We have seen so many designers who lost the control of their names...like a certain John Galliano.

 

[vetements]

i do not think at all Karl could be his own brand. ( And when i say brand, i mean the likes of a Tom Ford, not that abomination that is KARL) Take him out of the context of an established fashion house and as we've seen he becomes grotesquely out of touch. On the other hand Hedi is nothing but his own brand regardless of the name at the door.

Frankly i cannot imagine why anyone knowing that they have a chance to create a successful luxury label think it's more prestigious to work for an historic fashion house, more convenient, oh yes, but prestigious? Who would want to be a Karl when you can be a Yves Saint Laurent?

sadly, i think most designers, talented or not not withstanding, do not have business acumen. Just like Fashion Designers Vs their own corporations" CEOs.
Tom Ford does seem to be pretty savvy in that, but Hedi doesnt, and neither does Olivier Theyskens, judging from how his Rochas and Nina Ricci sales.
The clothes were breathtakingly beautiful but costs a lot to make, hard to replicate even within the house and worst of them all, didnt sell.

If a designer is sensible and know himself well enough, he wouldnt want to take that risk.

 

[Urban Stylin]

^OMG, that gif.

Those Vaccarello clothes are super basic! A white cotton T-shirt styled with a loincloth, or a blazer as a dress... So lame. He will have to step his game up.

In a way I feel sorry for him.

Still, when I look at them I see a hint of Safari and somnething more exotic that Hedi's LA chic

 

[Urban Stylin]

bustle.com

i WOUld rather see his interpretation of YSL

unotre.com

 

[Scotty]

^ LOL! But honestly i prefer his basic dresses to Hedi's clown dresses.. and his castings save him so..

 

[Creative]

^^
It's not like Hedi's clothes weren't super basic.
Ok, Saint Laurent was cool and appealing...very "grand public" but the level of design was beyond low.

Yes, but that's why many of us thought Hedi should leave YSL, because his clothes were beyond basic. And now we have another designer doing basics but without the unparalleled cool factor of Slimane.

 

[littlegracie]

Vaccarello is a horrible choice. They need to hire Decarnin! This is tragic.

YES, YES, YES! Decarnin would've be the perfect choice!

I agree wiht many others here, in that Vaccarello will most likely imitate the aesthetic Hedi Slimane created. Hopefully he'll simply be a "filler" for the next few seaons, so Saint Lauret can squeeze out as much of the "Hedi Slimane era" possible, before they hire a more radical designer to shake things up for the brand.

 

[Creative]

Decarnin? He's quite simple as a designer too.

 

[Scotty]

How can you say that when Hedi's last collection was basically a Balmain rip-off? Not even the last actually.. the whole era felt like a cheap Balmain to me
He'd pull it off easily. He's a much better choice than Vaccarello anyway.

 

[Creative]

How can you say that when Hedi's last collection was basically a Balmain rip-off? Not even the last actually.. the whole era felt like a cheap Balmain to me
He'd pull it off easily. He's a much better choice than Vaccarello anyway.

Say what? You mean that if Hedi 'copies' Decarnin (which is not true), that makes Decarnin a better designer? I didn't understand what you meant. I think Hedi and Decarnin are at the same level more or less. Hedi is sliiightly better, though, cause he is a history expert and that helps a lot when you are going for a certain mood.

And Hedi last collection was a rip-off of the 80's, as well as many Decarnin collections.