Hedi's Days Numbered At Dior Homme?

[taz]

today from vogue

ARE HEDI'S DAYS NUMBERED?

IS Hedi Slimane safe at Dior? Word in the fashion world is that the designer whose androgynous style we fell in love with when he debuted at YSL Rive Gauche and who has since made Dior Homme a must-have label for both men and women, is having trouble renegotiating his contract. Salary demands are said to be the main stumbling block in the process, which sources say may lead to tension at the Dior Homme show in Paris on July 4. While fashion watchers would be as shocked to see Slimane, whose three-year contract is due to expire next month, leave the company as they were to see Gucci let Tom Ford go, it's rumoured that Dior has already set a contingency plan in place. A "wise" choice of replacement has apparently been lined up. According to WWD, the launch of Slimane's own womenswear line was another subject that caused heat at the negotiating table – though it is unsure whether the line would come under the Dior umbrella or be backed by another company. (June 19 2006, AM)

Dolly Jones

& the title from wwd:

Published: Monday, June 19, 2006

Dior, Slimane Said at Stalemate
By Miles Socha
PARIS — If Gucci Group could bid arrivederci to its design dynamo Tom Ford, could Christian Dior say au revoir to its men's wear star Hedi Slimane?

I have to fly to Paris & grab whatever my credit card can from the Rue Royale boutique

 

[tricotineacetat]

ohlalá... hedi leaving dior homme? this had been big talks already last season and i can totally imagine it coming to an end... dior officials would be well-advised to get one of hedi's former assistants back on track to design the collection, at least they won't ask for a higher salary than hedi...

 

[snowqueen]

I guess at least he would know he was ending on a high

 

[Honey~Blade]

If it's true it might be about time, DH pretty much went downhill after many of the assistants departed. However one could also reason that's also when DH became commercially successful. Oh well.

 

[tricotineacetat]

i wouldn't feel too sorry if it was about to happen, hedi doing his own stuff would excite me much more without having him under the dior umbrella... he doesn't need them to clarify that what he is doing is in a couture-like context. he already has all of the influential supporters, it's evident when you see a dior homme front row, it's probably the most inner-circle you can get in the parisian circus - it's rare to see betty cattroux, pierre bergé, bianca jagger, charlotte rampling, loulou la falaise, karl lagerfeld, amanda harlech and many others attending the show all at once... it's like an accolade in the fashion biz, really.

 

[ultramarine]

I really really hate that fashion is mostly a bussiness ran by fat ugly men who cant tell Hedi's D.H. from (post-Gianni's) Versace!!!! I think it'd be cool to see Monsieur Slimane to have a bit more freedom ... as long as it is NOt on the detriment of his customers!!!


GGGRRRRRrrrrr!

 

[kimlan]

DH stuff are expected to be collectors!

(article source : WWD)

 

[amor]

Will Gucci hire him to do YSL homme? i'd rather he launch a line of his own.

 

[Ianastar]

Will Gucci hire him to do YSL homme? i'd rather he launch a line of his own.

Me too. I'd like to see him do his own stuff.

But I wonder, who would they woo for his replacement??

 

[faust]

Considering that all he's been doing is globetrotting, instead of desinging, I'm surprised he's demanding a signficant salary raise at all. Get your million and be happy that your company pays for your thrills.

 

[tricotineacetat]

Considering that all he's been doing is globetrotting, instead of desinging, I'm surprised he's demanding a signficant salary raise at all. Get your million and be happy that your company pays for your thrills.

Isn't that a little too harshly said? I don't know any designer out there that is as much "involved" into the brandbuilding aspect of the company he is designing for, from the stage design, graphic design, soundtrack supervising and store/interior concept for every freestanding Dior Homme store.

No, I simply guess that he is kinda unhappy with the situation at Dior, not being able to evolve further than what he already build up. it is obvious that he wants to stretch further into womenswear but he cannot do it at Dior (unless they kicked Galliano)... it would simply make the women's image more schizophrene-looking than it already is under John. That being said, I can imagine he only wants to maintain the status quo with an even bigger paycheck.

 

[bc collector]

unless this is a way to get fired without asking to be. This is no news, anyway. I'd be intrigued both by him starting his own line but also by him taking reins at YSl again. Pilati's work is quite controversial and not completely convincing, in my opinion.

 

[juzuxel]

It would be interesting to see who they would hire to replace him... I like his designs but I think that he would be better of by himself doing his own thing! I hope they hire some of his old asistants back that have the vision. I just hope the asthetics won´t change to much.

It will be pretty hard for the new designer to full fill Slimanes shoes but if he/she would succeed he/she would become the new thing!

 

[kimlan]

Some people are talking about Mister Hedi for Chanel... men...

It is a dream for Karl but I bet that this will happen! maybe not for now because this is too early for chanel to expand in menswear...
but why not in a while..

 

[amor]

it'll be much easier for him to start his signature line now, with such a stature he's achieved at DH, but i have to doubt his capability when it comes to womenswear. What kind of dresses will he design for a woman?

 

[Ianastar]

I like what Pelati has done at YSL................I wouldn't want to see Hedi take it over. Especially since I'm a YSL menswear fan, and not that big of a fan of Dior Homme.

Maybe he'll just stop designing and focus more on his DJ-ing

 

[faust]

Isn't that a little too harshly said? I don't know any designer out there that is as much "involved" into the brandbuilding aspect of the company he is designing for, from the stage design, graphic design, soundtrack supervising and store/interior concept for every freestanding Dior Homme store.

Maybe. All I see is Hedi partying here, DJing there, hanging out in the back of the tour bus, going to misshapes, etc. I wonder when he gets time to design. If by brandbuilding you mean personabuilding - yea, he is doing a good job, but that's PR. He is becoming the new Tom Ford. I wish he'd get back to designing, because he is definitely good at it.

 

[style_expert]

I'm almost sure Hedi won't go to YSL, as Stefano Pilati is doing quite well there. I'd love to see Hedi getting his own line and I'm sure there is enough interest. Dior will definitely not break with Galliano unfortunately. It would be a nightmare when Galliano takes over Dior Homme! In the end, I think Hedi will stay at Dior and LVMH will probably give him his own line as well.

 

[faust]

Actually, I think he'd be good designing at Helmut Lang, but too late for that.

 

[tricotineacetat]

Many people actually describe Hedi as a natural extension of what Helmut started, because the wardrobe and the approach is very similar. In case of Hedi though, I think this would have been a job he could have easily done if Helmut had resigned earlier in his career, had he not taken the job at Dior Homme. By now, he has pretty much become a major player himself, so working for either one of the "big" houses would be a natural extension (I don't think for example that he'd do a house as, say, Jil Sander).

Don't get me posted on that one, but I think Hedi only showed up once at Misshapes doing a DJ-set... in terms of tour-bus and indie-rock-hangouts, I think this goes hand in hand with his photography work (I hope you know that I am not a fan of his photography, I don't see anything particularly exciting to portrait contemporary performers...especially when the old guard like Patti Smith, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Smiths, Joy Division have had far more charisma), and I think he hammered it in long and hard enough that people get he is taking it just as seriously as his fashion design (it shows in the many exhibitions he has had/participated in)... Maybe you should rather ask Karl, I guess he's got a much tighter schedule than Hedi's...