Hedi Slimane exits Saint Laurent; Anthony Vaccarello hired

[WeberFanatic]

Even though Decarnin would be an interesting choice for Saint Laurent, Decarnin mentally wouldn't be able to work for such a big and well known brand. Look at what happened at Balamin, it was getting too big for him, more people were noticing his skills. He had gotten hospitalized for depression by his F/W 2011 show. He HAD TO LEAVE Balmain, he wasn't fired. If he was at Saint Laurent, double or even the prestige of Balmain I be scared for him. I'm sure he's happy right now at Faith Connexion, a brand that's intimate but still generates buzz, not as big as Balmain but enough.

 

[donyan]

the real legacy of Hedi Slimane at YSL is that it's even possible to consider Decarnin for the job- before Hedi we would have thought of someone like Alber Elbaz to embody the spirit of YSL, now it's become a sort of trashy (and I'm saying that in the nicest possible way) rock chick. Don't get me wrong, I like trashy, but I would have thought YSL was so much more sophisticated.
I have a feeling that although the financial rewards of Hedi's tenure are considerable, they might regret one day having gone down the road of lowest common denominator-it is virtually impossible to turn back now. YSL will never be the sophisticated, highly Parisian House again that it once was.

 

[liberty33r1b]

^very well said, couldn't agree more

 

[haydn]

I still don't get while everyone thinks he destroyed the true spirit of the house. Yves was a pioneer in ready to wear and always desired to create clothing people would actually wear; exactly what Hedi is doing. There are multiple well written articles on the topic (I reccomend everyone reading https://www.yahoo.com/style/exclusive-hedi-slimane-on-saint-laurents-126446645943.html ). Weather his YSL was your taste or not, that's an opinion, but at the end of the day he stayed true to himself while staying true to Yves St Laurent (the man, not the house, which is irrelevant since the day Yves stepped down).

Bigger picture; fashion is the only industry where the artist becomes a brand and lives beyond an artist; could you imagine somebody paining for Picasso when he died, or who would take over for Beyonce when she retires from singing? We have to understand that designers are only human; from Nicholas to Raf to Hedi, the industry relies on them too heavily for financial rewards while not investing and nurturing their creativity. It would be a disaster for any true creative designer to not be allowed to express themselves and grow the brand.

At the end of the day, high fashion now for the majority of brands (speaking mainly of those run by conglomerates such as Kering or LVMH) have a responsibility to shareholders - it's really just a business. It's become almost irrelevant which designer will create a legacy, now that all most can afford from a label is an entry level t-shirt. We can all complain about how the glamour is gone, but really it's been gone for a while. Gone are the days when a brand relied heavily on evening-wear.. I mean, go into most shops - you don't see gowns on the racks. It's just not the way we dress now. I think Hedi's true legacy is that he's the created the one major house that's fully realized the way people dress and how they shop and interact and he gave them everything they wanted.

 

[Caffeine]

the real legacy of Hedi Slimane at YSL is that it's even possible to consider Decarnin for the job- before Hedi we would have thought of someone like Alber Elbaz to embody the spirit of YSL, now it's become a sort of trashy (and I'm saying that in the nicest possible way) rock chick. Don't get me wrong, I like trashy, but I would have thought YSL was so much more sophisticated.
I have a feeling that although the financial rewards of Hedi's tenure are considerable, they might regret one day having gone down the road of lowest common denominator-it is virtually impossible to turn back now. YSL will never be the sophisticated, highly Parisian House again that it once was.

spot on. so sad.

 

[Fashionstuff]

I still don't get while everyone thinks he destroyed the true spirit of the house. Yves was a pioneer in ready to wear and always desired to create clothing people would actually wear; exactly what Hedi is doing. There are multiple well written articles on the topic (I reccomend everyone reading )
Weather his YSL was your taste or not, that's an opinion, but at the end of the day he stayed true to himself while staying true to Yves St Laurent (the man, not the house, which is irrelevant since the day Yves stepped down).

Bigger picture; fashion is the only industry where the artist becomes a brand and lives beyond an artist; could you imagine somebody paining for Picasso when he died, or who would take over for Beyonce when she retires from singing? We have to understand that designers are only human; from Nicholas to Raf to Hedi, the industry relies on them too heavily for financial rewards while not investing and nurturing their creativity. It would be a disaster for any true creative designer to not be allowed to express themselves and grow the brand.

At the end of the day, high fashion now for the majority of brands (speaking mainly of those run by conglomerates such as Kering or LVMH) have a responsibility to shareholders - it's really just a business. It's become almost irrelevant which designer will create a legacy, now that all most can afford from a label is an entry level t-shirt. We can all complain about how the glamour is gone, but really it's been gone for a while. Gone are the days when a brand relied heavily on evening-wear.. I mean, go into most shops - you don't see gowns on the racks. It's just not the way we dress now. I think Hedi's true legacy is that he's the created the one major house that's fully realized the way people dress and how they shop and interact and he gave them everything they wanted.

Agree 100 %.
And @Haydn thank you for the link, really interesting and good wrote topic!

 

[tricotineacetat]

YSL will never be the sophisticated, highly Parisian House again that it once was.

You can say what you want about the aesthetics of the house, but in terms of the product, the quality was never as flawless as it was under Slimane. One look at the immaculate cleanness of his clothes on the shop floor, the precision of the cut and finish, and that becomes evident.

It's maybe about time to think about whether the old couture houses in Paris should really still continue on with the 'Jolie Madame' look that made these houses famous in the 50ies and 60ies. It works for some houses and under certain designers, like when Olivier Theyskens did Rochas, because that house was literally dead, was re-imagined by a designer with an edgy aesthetic and was not the crown jewel under a big fashion conglomerate.

I'm not sure if Saint Laurent, whose heydays was in the 70ies and 80ies, and whose actual muses were the faces of a new, hedonistic Paris with a strong rooting in the glamourous jet-set life, should really look like a brand for the ladies who lunch uptown. There are houses like Oscar de la Renta or Carolina Herrera catering for that, but for a house like Saint Laurent, it makes sense to push for the more youthful part of it's story if it wants to remain relevant in the future. It's another thing altogether if Slimane pushed that topic just a little too hard in some of his collections but it worked. All that ever happened under Pilati was that he had the right kind of shoes and bags that helped him keep the fashion department up but it really wasn't the clothes that ever sold.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I don't believe that's true. His tulip skirt/almost corset-like wide belt silhouette was very influential, no? He was definitely directional while at YSL, and his skill as a womenswear designer is leaps and bounds beyond Hedi's.

 

[honeycombchild]

I can't say I agree with the comments regarding Pilati. Definitely towards the end of his time there his moment had somewhat passed, but it certainly had a moment and created some work that influenced the style of the time.

There was a strapless grey jersey dress with a sort of tulip style skirt that was referenced till the cows came home, teamed with a glass star necklace for the campaign if I remember rightly. He did dictate a new mood for a few seasons, it just wasn't something he was able to sustain.

 

[Creative]

Yeah, he sort of defined fashion aesthetics in 2005-2006. His relevance, though, was very, very, very short. Maybe till 2007-2008 at most.

 

[tangerine]

...
I'm not sure if Saint Laurent, whose heydays was in the 70ies and 80ies, and whose actual muses were the faces of a new, hedonistic Paris with a strong rooting in the glamourous jet-set life, should really look like a brand for the ladies who lunch uptown. There are houses like Oscar de la Renta or Carolina Herrera catering for that, but for a house like Saint Laurent, it makes sense to push for the more youthful part of it's story if it wants to remain relevant in the future...

Amen. Before Yves Saint Laurent was crowned as a god, he was a rebel and bad boy. Whether you like Hedi's work and aesthetic or not, it doesn't stand up to me to say he betrayed the spirit of YSL. Rather, the contrary.

Their similarities are maybe best appreciated in considering their approach to perfumery, where each pushed the boundaries, YSL with Opium and Hedi with Eau Noire while at Dior. I think there may well be something to the accounts that say Hedi's inability to gain access to the YSL Beauty line, now owned by L'Oreal, was a major factor in his departure.

Besides perfume, makeup and nail polish are important parts of the look and lifestyle Hedi likes to portray. It makes sense that he would want to have control over those parts of any brand he is working with.

 

[squilliam]

Hedi kept the rebel spirit YSL had, but his designs didn't exactly keep with the spirit of Yves' s designs, who was a very versatile designer drawing inspiration female everything, Hedi was very one note

 

[Lola701]

Yeah, he sort of defined fashion aesthetics in 2005-2006. His relevance, though, was very, very, very short. Maybe till 2007-2008 at most.

Totally. His collections were very influencial in the first year and then, he reached his peak his fall 2007+ spring/fall 2008.
Unfortunately for him, that fall 2008 was such a success (considering the risk it was for a house like Saint Laurent) that everything after that felt confused and maybe too trying-to-hard-to-be-intellectual.

He introduced the "new minimalism" before Philo. Philo's first few collection had a very "Pilati" touch.

Unfortunately, his biggest contribution for YSL was the Tribute and the Muse.

In a bigger scale, we will remember Tom & Hedi because their fashion was bigger. The controversy around their work can be affiliate to YSL's heydays.

 

[Wolkfolk]

I completely agree about Pilati. It's quite furstrating to think that his tenure at the house is completley overlooked because of the way Bergé treated him and because Ford and Slimane are such fashion monsters but he was an absolutely perfect job, even though like you said Lola the only think people remember now is his accessories.


His collections are still among my absolute favourites ever + his menswear was just flawless It's actually funny that he was already using a lot of the current mens trends in his collections like Fall 2008, SS 09 or Fall 2005.

I'm really, really worried about Vaccarello's menswear honestly. At least I can tell what, unfortunately, the womenswear will look like judging by his collections but coming after Slimane and Pilati with almost no reference in menswear seems very inconsiderate to me. He ain't gonna have Anja Rubik sick body and killer legs to sell mens garments to us. Kering just doesn't seem to care about the people who buy the clothes.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

Amen. Before Yves Saint Laurent was crowned as a god, he was a rebel and bad boy. Whether you like Hedi's work and aesthetic or not, it doesn't stand up to me to say he betrayed the spirit of YSL. Rather, the contrary.

Yves may have been a "rebel" but he wasn't in any way or form "street". He was always highly sophisticated. He made sophistication sexy and that made him radical, but he was never down with the kids. He was no punk.
On the other hand if making exact replicas of Zara dresses and sweaters that Kurt Cobain probably bought in the Salvation Army, it's not betraying the spirit, i do not know what is. Let's not even talk about the lack of versatility and colour. Don't get me wrong, i like Hedi, and i like his vision, just not for YSL or any other fashion house.

 

[Creative]

Yves may have been a "rebel" but he wasn't in any way or form "street".

60 years ago what he did was street. He brought street to couture and was highly criticized, even at Dior. Even at his own brand. That was much more shocking than what Hedi has done, which is something very normal and that any other brand in the world has done. From Galliano chez Dior, to Karl, to Ghesquière at Balenciaga... Don't get what the fuss is all about.

What is cringe-worthy is the level of design...

 

[Les_Sucettes]

60 years ago what he did was street. He brought street to couture and was highly criticized, even at Dior. Even at his own brand. That was much more shocking than what Hedi has done, which is something very normal and that any other brand in the world has done. From Galliano chez Dior, to Karl, to Ghesquière at Balenciaga... Don't get what the fuss is all about.

What is cringe-worthy is the level of design...

I disagree. What cannot consider what he did in any way or form "street". Not even 60 years ago. He was a rebel in his context but he worked in a totally different plain than designers that actually were influenced and worked for street culture. He always had in mind the sophisticated client, he was never some sort of democratic contra culture figure. He was sexy and daring and he did chic in is own terms, and that ruffled a lot of feathers, but chic nonetheless, something that Hedi totally disregarded.
I agree that Yves did was way more shocking for the time, than anything Hedi could do in his lifetime, and i do not think people are bothered by Hedi per se, simply that his vision is totally at odds with the ethos of the house he's designing for.

 

[tangerine]

Rebel does not denote street, it just means a rebel.

As for the overlap of street/rock and roll/high fashion, there is some. Mods, Carnaby Street, Edwardian, Glam, Punk, have all been interpreted up and down the road from low to high. I think High Fashion has frequently borrowed from popular culture as well as "other" cultures.

I think that you have a point, Les_Sucettes, that the Hedi at SLP "controversy" is mostly a matter of whether or not one considers YSL "above" (or at odds with) this kind of adaptation.

 

[donyan]

I disagree. What cannot consider what he did in any way or form "street". Not even 60 years ago. He was a rebel in his context but he worked in a totally different plain than designers that actually were influenced and worked for street culture. He always had in mind the sophisticated client, he was never some sort of democratic contra culture figure. He was sexy and daring and he did chic in is own terms, and that ruffled a lot of feathers, but chic nonetheless, something that Hedi totally disregarded.
I agree that Yves did was way more shocking for the time, than anything Hedi could do in his lifetime, and i do not think people are bothered by Hedi per se, simply that his vision is totally at odds with the ethos of the house he's designing for.

spot on. that's what I wanted to say with my earlier post. Nobody cares about "jolie Madame", but I think it is possible to renew a house without abandoning completely whatever that house stood for. Saint Laurent was rebellious and daring , but in a very sophisticated, "Parisian" way. And I'm not saying that the clothes on the racks are not good, we're talking about the image here, the way the girls present themselves in the shows, and there is nothing sophisticated or Parisian about them.

 

[Creative]

Rive Gauche was less sophisticated for HF followers than Hedi's approach of YSL to us. Women who saw couture shows wearing white gloves didn't think Rive Gauche had anything remotely sophisticated and were totally mad about it.

You are being the women with white gloves of 2016. But what is weird is that doing what a designer wants at a fashion house is more than usual and has been more than usual for decades. Californian-grungy chic, trainers at couture or homeless inspired collections, we've seen it all... Never got the hate towards Hedi's vision for the house.

Chanel at a supermarket is fine and Bowie-inspired jumpsuits chez Dior too, but Hedi's inspirations aren't.