Hedi Slimane : Life after Dior Homme

[*sayan]

merci, berlin. Du beau blabla mais ou sont les ragots.

 

[MissMagAddict]

source | wwd
September 24, 2007

Hedi Slimane figures it's time to recalibrate the fashion calendar in an age when collections are posted on the Internet moments after being shown. Slimane made that assertion in an interview published Sunday in French daily Le Monde, his first since exiting Dior Homme last March. "Seasonal collections, shown one year in advance, don't relate to anything anymore," he told the newspaper, also citing a saturation of brands and style propositions. Slimane also expressed skepticism for marketing, and reiterated that a desire to design women's wear ultimately precipitated his parting ways with Dior. "At the end of seven years, I needed a change and wanted to move on and dress women. That wasn't possible at Dior," Slimane said, alluding to John Galliano, who just marked his 10th anniversary as the house's couturier. Slimane reiterated that his unwillingness to give up majority ownership of his brand name stymied negotiations with Dior to launch an Hedi Slimane fashion house and led to his eventual exit. As expected, he asserted having good relations with LVMH titan Bernard Arnault, "for whom I have a great deal of affection."

Thanks for the article & translation BerlinI love the way Babel translated et souhaitais habiller les filles to equip the girls

 

[ilaughead]

Thanks for the articles, both of you!

 

[Londoner13]

There is a great article about him in Sept. Velvet, an italian magazine.
but I dont have a scanner

 

[MissMagAddict]

Source | WWD | December 18, 2007

Slimane, LVMH Said Exploring Deal

Could Hedi Slimane end up back at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton?

The men's wear star, who parted with Dior Homme in March, has renewed talks with LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault about the launch of a Hedi Slimane fashion house, industry sources said.

The likelihood of a deal could not immediately be learned. LVMH declined comment on Monday and Slimane could not be reached.

However, sources described the recent talks as serious, underscoring that the designer has maintained excellent relations with the luxury titan.

One of Paris' biggest fashion stars, Slimane surprised the industry with his exit from Dior Homme, which under his creative tenure brought skinny tailoring and rock 'n' roll style back to the forefront of fashion, and electrified men's fashion week here.

Slimane said he walked away from Dior "freely" after failing to reach an agreement about a Dior-backed Hedi Slimane house. Ownership of the Slimane brand name and control rights were said to be among the contentious issues during the initial talks.

But Slimane left the door open to reconciliation, posting a letter on his Web site shortly after exiting Dior Homme thanking Arnault for trusting him with the project. "I hope he will understand my position and decision, if not now, then hopefully with some time," Slimane wrote.

While he has recently channeled his energies into his burgeoning career as an artist and photographer, Slimane is said to be eager to get back into the fashion game with an independent label.

But it appears Arnault might not be alone in Slimane's web of intrigue. The designer is rumored to be talking to Diesel's Renzo Rosso about possible backing as well. Besides owning Diesel, Rosso backs Martin Margiela and Sophia Kokosalaki, among other businesses.

For his part, Arnault is said to want to lure Slimane back into his stable of fashion stars, prizing the 39-year-old's design prowess and wide-screen brand vision.

An art history graduate from the Ecole du Louvre, Slimane burst onto the fashion scene in the late Nineties as the men's wear creative director at YSL, earning standing ovations for collections that were seductively androgynous and crackling with modern energy.

In 2000, he resigned from YSL and accepted a job offer from Arnault, showing his first Dior Homme collection in January 2001, injecting the brand with buzz and a strong youth appeal.

Since then, many retailers have queried about a Slimane women's line, since he already enjoyed a cult female following, having dressed the likes of Madonna, Charlotte Rampling, Linda Evangelista and Nicole Kidman.

Meanwhile, Dior Homme's new designer Kris Van Assche is readying for his runway debut for the French brand on Jan. 20.

 

[mass]

q&a from hintmag in december:

Finally, I have to ask, will you ever return to fashion? Will you make clothes again?
Yes, totally, I assume in 2008. I don't want it to consume my life, but I would miss not doing it, especially the fabrics and the atelier. It is part of my life, and collections keep running through my head. It simply has to be the right project.

 

[ilaughead]

Yes! I cannot wait!

And Renzo Rosso seems like a good fit if he backs MMM. But I don't know much about him...

 

[tricotineacetat]

Yes! I cannot wait!

And Renzo Rosso seems like a good fit if he backs MMM. But I don't know much about him...

not at all...

Can you imagine Hedi Slimane's tailoring being done in the same factory as DSquared? As long as all the manufacturing is being coordinated by Rosso's manufacturing company, Staff, I doubt a signature Slimane line would be possible to make at a decent quality level.

 

[ilaughead]

^Really? Isn't Margiela good quality? Wouldn't Rosso put them on the same 'tier'?

 

[tricotineacetat]

What Martin Margiela does is well made, but it's a different product than Hedi's. It's hard to compare Belgian deconstruction with super-exacto tailoring in luxe, plain fabric qualities. I just doubt they can provide the resources or the savoir faire for something labour-intense as that... unless they allow him to source elsewhere than what Renzo Rosso can provide - In that regard, I would be curious to know if Sophia is still producing her hand-gathered, pleated pieces in her London studio, rather than to give them out to a factory where they always ended up turning her designs into a complete mess.

 

[zamb]

Slimane's tailoring is not something that is easy to produce.
It requires a special kind of factory with a special kind of expertise
that a company like Desiel does not have.
I am a huge fan of Margiela and wear a lot of the basics from his collections, but the quality to me, is not all that great..............

 

[Danish]

I'm pretty new here and I just knew who Heidi is. So I'm curious why he left and what's his future plan?

 

[ilaughead]

Hedi left because he wanted more money.
His future plans are to take lots of black and white photos of indie Brit rock boys and possibly design his own line.

 

[Danish]

Thanks. But I don't get it, he's the head designer of Dior Homme, isn't the pay check enough already?

 

[god_save_hedi]

he quit with DH in march 2007

 

[ilaughead]

Thanks. But I don't get it, he's the head designer of Dior Homme, isn't the pay check enough already?

Well, rumour has it that he also wanted to design women's clothing also...but the details of the exact negotiations are a little hazy. Look a little further back in the thread, there should be an article about it somewhere.

 

[JordanB]

I cannot wait until he's back designing..

 

[Dkammern]

^^i very much agree!

you'll find articles in this very same thread that explain the reasons why he left (my dear ilaughead described it rather vaguely i must say )
yes he did leave

because he wanted more money

... but there's also the parts when he tried to negotiate a new Hedi Slimane brand with LVMH, they say no, he says then i'll go, they say ok because you were never so profitable, he says byebye, and so they do!
and now after a short period of

lots of black and white photos of indie Brit rock boys

they are both reconsidering the Slimane label thing (maybe womenswear!!)...

it's like a little fashion trilogy... and we are all waiting for the grand finale



EDIT: i apologize for descriving Mr. Ilaughead's description as vague. As I see now, he has added more information!

 

[mkd1187]

I still say Chanel Homme by Hedi Slimane


at least we know karl would approve.

 

[ettebe]

I still say Chanel Homme by Hedi Slimane


at least we know karl would approve.

now that would be a sight for sore eyes. It is interesting that Chanel has no mens line. From what I can recall Coco used to wear mens clothing, back in the day.