Hedi's Days Numbered At Dior Homme?

[Deleted member 7575]

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.

I agree with this completely BTW. Hedi is bascially the chosen one by both Karl and Yves Saint Laurent.

 

[MUXU]

mutter - true...i can't seem to see him at gucci (menswear)
maybe it's an italian brand..i don't know

you are right on the assistants part...if he has the money..he should really take them with him..i wonder how much it will affect him if he got a completely new bunch working for him

 

[new_dawn_fades]

hmm this is quite an interesting discussion that we got here... im wot be happy or sad if he leaves dior and id love to see him do his own stuf...and i know that he wont do ysl or gucci( maybe backed by the group at the most)
and totally agree with the chosen one comment by mutterlien..
As wild as this sounds(somone did mention this before)...does anyone feel that he might do his own stuff for a while..but after that end up at chanel once karl calls it quits? he even had some slight chanel references in his recent collection...i wont see why mr.lagerfeld wont recommend him to start the chanel homme line(after all he resurrected the dior homme line)...and with all the resources they have at chanel with respect to couture and rtw...i think hedis dreams of couture for men might very well come true.. doesnt this theory sound good?

 

[mass]

at this point i think i'd rather see him do his own stuff.

 

[Creamy Thighs]

It seems strange that Dior won’t simply agree to Hedi’s demands. As I understand, what he wants primarily is a pay rise (is this correct?). Even if his salary were to double, this would not significantly cut into Dior’s profits. Furthermore, the costs of recruiting in a new designer at the helm of Dior Homme would probably outweigh the increased costs of keeping Hedi onboard, as there would inevitably be a decline in brand appeal and customer base following his exit.

Hedi already enjoys considerable creative freedom at his current job; he has been able to start the brand from scratch, and thereafter control significant aspects of it. Admittedly he has been forced over recent seasons to concede to the board of Dior’s demands for greater commercial success (…so they make a few abysmal hoodies and t-shirts – just don’t buy them), but irregardless, the Dior Homme brand retains its position as one of the most celebrated and esteemed clothing labels in the world, something that Dior’s management sure as hell are aware of and do not want to change.

Someone mentioned in an earlier post that this may be Hedi’s premeditated exit strategy; it would certainly make for a more compelling story and one that would generate greater media interest if Dior Homme’s Golden Boy left the label on bad terms. This would also work in Hedi’s favour by placing him in greater focus in the fashion world, and thus in a much better position to start his own clothing line.

 

[satsuma]

ahh.. how will the successor ever manage to keep up with all the lines that hedi has started. hmm.. i mean, we've seen everything from trunks to toiletries (quite.. random items too. toothbrush cases...).

I think Dior should ditch Galliano. I mean, the womenswear is becoming increasingly boring, and Galliano already has his own line. However, I do realise that Galliano is too important an asset to Dior (it seems) for them to lose. But isn't Hedi... better?

 

[justinleaddict]

But isn't Hedi... better?

I think that there are just less customers of Dior Homme than Dior Femme, which is why it may be easy for them to let Hedi go. I don't think it has to do with who is better..

I do know that if Hedi leaves, there will have to be a completely new clientele for Dior Homme, which probably wont be easy for them.. The brand will probably have a whole new look.

 

[faust]

I think that there are just less customers of Dior Homme than Dior Femme, which is why it may be easy for them to let Hedi go. I don't think it has to do with who is better..

I do know that if Hedi leaves, there will have to be a completely new clientele for Dior Homme, which probably wont be easy for them.. The brand will probably have a whole new look.

That'd be the most ******** reason ever. Designer menswear is only now becoming less of a niche market, and Dior Homme is right at the forefront of that. I mean, people who only know Armani, now know Dior Homme, and know that it's hip. Why in the world would you want to let go of a flagship position in the market that will most likely signifcantly expand?

 

[tott]

^ Exactly...

 

[battles]

i know it's unfair to voice out my hypothetical theory but i think hedi is very much comfortable with the direction that he'd taken himself to and i won't be surprise if he is just going to stop designing for good. being a cult-figure, hanging out with rockstars and crackheads, i think he'd sold himself to the image that he was selling...

you think he wants to follow marc jacobs' footsteps? no. die young and stay pretty. it's kind of a dead-rockstar-legends syndrome too...

 

[rach2jlc]

That'd be the most ******** reason ever. Designer menswear is only now becoming less of a niche market, and Dior Homme is right at the forefront of that. I mean, people who only know Armani, now know Dior Homme, and know that it's hip. Why in the world would you want to let go of a flagship position in the market that will most likely signifcantly expand?

Ehhh... Hedi Schmedi... he's soooooooo 2003.

Of course I'm kidding, but I am a bit ambivalent about the whole thing. Hedi was revolutionary back at YSL and at Dior (for at least the first several seasons) so much so that his revolutionary aesthetic has become mainstream. I know that the LVMH guys want to keep milking that cash cow, but I would hope that Hedi wouldn't be satisfied if he wasn't pushing the envelope. I don't really see where else revolutionary Hedi can go within Dior now as it is WITHOUT killing that cash cow. He would either have to go BACK to the undemocratically cut and more expensive earlier seasons or change the whole aesthetic, which might alienate customers.

Personally, I'd love to see him do his own line. Get somebody new at Dior or just get a design team to keep making the same things they are now and keep selling them like hotcakes to snotty teenagers who couldn't care less as long as there is a "bee" on it somewhere. I think that Dior's initial customer who bought back during Red, Solitaire, Follow Me, etc. has already moved on and now buys... maybe... one item per season. The rest, they buy from Ann Demuelemeester, CCP, et. al.

I haven't bought Dior in the past several seasons, ever since it started to become a lifestyle brand. I liked the early seasons, when nobody really knew what you were wearing except that it was the skinniest most gorgeously cut jacket you've ever seen. Now, you can have a toothbrush, a razor set, and a tote bag with the "bee" all over it. No thanks.

So, let Hedi move on. He did his job at Dior... too well.

John

 

[JJohnson]

That would be very interesting but there is no way this wild rumour can be true. Viktor & Rolf are all about being independent as a label and I don't think they want to give up that freedom. However, they DO care about the money and prestige so why not? The main reason is that they don't even design the Viktor & Rolf menswear themselves. That is done by Erik Frenken. I even think they don't like designing mens clothes and they quite suck at it. And Hedi to Gucci? I don't think so. Gucci doesn't really care about the bad critics Frida got, they only care about sellings as many handbags as possible. They care about sales figures, not really about who is designing. Of course good reviews mean better sales figures. However, I don't think we can exclude the possibility of Hedi going to the Gucci group to start his own label.

Very interesting.....I was reading a report that Frida was to be soley at Gucci in charge of both design aspects....it would be highly intersting for Hedi to leave LVMH to go to PPR-Gucci. It might be even more pressure and I think he would be quite surpressd.

 

[taz]

oops it seems to true

here is the title from wwd:

Published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006


Dior Preps for Possible Slimane Departure
By Miles Socha

PARIS — Kris Van Assche is among the designers contacted to take over Dior Homme should negotiations over a new contract with Hedi Slimane fail, WWD has learned.

who is Kris Van Assche ?

 

[tricotineacetat]

Understandable, given that he had been Hedi's right hand for all these years... his style is probably by far more "mass-compatible" than, say, Nicolas Andreas Taralis'. I still have to admit though that I wouldn't be a fan, I don't really have any connection to what he is doing, he misses an edge and I already find his signatures - the twisted collars and trompe l'oeill details rather forced and done.

 

[kimlan]

Why not Kriss Van Asche? It is one of the most consistent choice as he worked with him for a while and is now well known by fashion editors..

cloak would have been a good choice too, but maybe too close to hedi's style....

 

[taz]

well I searched & here is his web site, born in 1976 ..graduated from Belgium .. he was with Hedi since YSL days & in 2005 started his own line..

http://www.krisvanassche.com/

check his s/s collectiom:
http://men.style.com/fashion/collections/S2006MEN/complete/thumb/KVAMEN

& here is the man :

i liked his accseories too ..I can feel the spirit of Slimane in some of his designs.

men.style.com

 

[style_expert]

from vogue.co.uk

BELGIAN designer Kris Van Assche could be in line to take over from Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme, if the latter designer doesn't manage to sort out his contract in time. According to WWD, 30-year-old Van Assche, who worked with Slimane for seven years at YSL and then Dior Homme before making a name for himself by launching his own label for spring/summer 2005, has already been contacted by the house. Slimane, who is due to show his spring/summer 2007 collection of menswear for Dior Homme in less than two weeks time, is thought to be having trouble negotiating a £1.4 million annual salary from the house while maintaining full rights to his brand name with possible plans to launch his own men's and womenswear labels. Now one of the world's most respected menswear designers, Slimane worked at YSL Rive Gauche in the late Nineties before joining Dior in 2000

Pff why do designers always want MORE?

 

[Angie C]

BELGIAN designer Kris Van Assche could be in line to take over from Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme

I've never ever heard anyone mention Kris Van Assche without mentioning "Hedis former assistant" in the same sentence, so that doesn't come as a shock.

Most interesting is what direction Hedi would take if he really is to be out of Dior. About his photographing, creative direction etc etc, however not-groundbreaking the results are he still managed to build this myth around the brand from already tired fashioncliches (rock, punk, glam, heroin...) that has no equivalence. The one that make "snotty teenagers" buy anything with a "bee" on". Of course there are lot of brands who has built a myth around them, but just look at the 46,830 replies to the Dior Homme threads here... everyone seems to have something to say about him.

I don't see him failing on that ever in the future.

Music and fashion are unseparateble, and honestly, I'm quite happy everytime a designer claims he is inspired by any artist that isn't David Bowie... or wait, did he ever mention that he was inspired by him too?

/From a non-expert point of view/

 

[machinist|]

oops it seems to true

here is the title from wwd:




who is Kris Van Assche ?

^^ B)

 

[Lena]

here the full wwd.com article of today

Dior Preps for Possible Slimane Departure
By Miles Socha

PARIS — Kris Van Assche is among the designers contacted to take over Dior Homme should negotiations over a new contract with Hedi Slimane fail, WWD has learned.

As reported, talks to renew Slimane’s employment contract with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton have hit an impasse less than two weeks before the Dior Homme show at the climax of men’s fashion week in Paris.

Known for his modern sartorial style, the Paris-based Van Assche, 30, worked with Slimane for seven years, both at YSL and Dior Homme. Van Assche first hit the fashion radar in spring 2005 when his debut signature line garnered critical acclaim. Van Assche, who is Belgian, will present his fourth collection during the Paris men’s wear shows on July 1.

Meanwhile, one source close to Slimane said the launch of a Hedi Slimane fashion house for women and men remains an active subject of negotiations.

One divisive element is tallying the current value of the Hedi Slimane trademark, the source said. Although Dior Homme clothes do not bear Slimane’s name, his rejuvenation of the brand’s men’s wear made him a media star whose photography and art activities have added to his profile.

It is understood Slimane is eager to remain at Dior Homme; however, he is seeking to maintain full rights to his brand name. Sources have indicated salary demands are another contentious subject with Slimane, who is said to be seeking in excess of 2 million euros, or $2.5 million, per year. A spokeswoman for Dior Homme had no comment on Tuesday, and a spokeswoman for Dior also had no comment.

Considered one of the leading men’s wear talents, Slimane’s first foray was at Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche in the late Nineties. He then joined Dior in 2000 following various proposals from Prada Group and Gucci, which had offered the designer a signature fashion house.

maybe i have posted already the rumours i heard while in Paris in March, that Hedi (and Elbaz) have major issues with bringing in money.. hype is fine but at the end of the day is all about what sales well.
not a boy but friends who can easily afford Dior Homme say major issue with Slimaine's work is.. sizing and fitting