Saint Laurent F/W 13.14 Paris

[Creative]

The only one who truly respects it is Karl.

When Karl started at Chanel journalists and people (blasé people) said what he was doing was shameful, ignoble, low, dirty, incredibly disrespectful... and that Chanel had to be turning over her own grave.

What Karl has done is making people believe what he does is Chanel. And that's great and kind of genius.

 

[jmrmartinho]

^Well, what he is doing right now is mocking Coco Chanel to be honest.
I dont think a creative director should do the same as the original one, there is a quote I read a few days ago that is "One school of thinking says that once a designer is installed at a house, he dictates its identity, and not the other way around."
That is exacly what Hedi is doing, which is not bad, but since he is designing for another brand he should have the image on his head and even tho he used some references to YSL work the whole ecense of the colection was something that Yves would never want to be apart and that is the bad thing.
When a designer is creating for another house, he should maintain the spirit and the allure of the roots and go on with his point of view, and Hedi is doing absolutely the opposite.

edit: here is the post where I read that quote, the answer is great to showcase what I think.
http://katemess.tumblr.com/post/46756307297/what-do-you-think-of-this-one-school-of-thinking-says

 

[lepetitcouturier]

^Well, what he is doing right now is mocking Coco Chanel to be honest.
I dont think a creative director should do the same as the original one, there is a quote I read a few days ago that is "One school of thinking says that once a designer is installed at a house, he dictates its identity, and not the other way around."
That is exacly what Hedi is doing, which is not bad, but since he is designing for another brand he should have the image on his head and even tho he used some references to YSL work the whole ecense of the colection was something that Yves would never want to be apart and that is the bad thing.
When a designer is creating for another house, he should maintain the spirit and the allure of the roots and go on with his point of view, and Hedi is doing absolutely the opposite.

edit: here is the post where I read that quote, the answer is great to showcase what I think.
http://katemess.tumblr.com/post/46756307297/what-do-you-think-of-this-one-school-of-thinking-says

Karl himself has even said Coco would despise what he's doing. But what you said is my definition of respecting the heritage of the house. Keeping the spirit. That's what Karl is doing, love him or hate him, you can't deny it. But with what Hedi Slimane is doing he might as well just go to Yves' grave and piss all over it. Because that's what he's doing.

 

[GERGIN]

This collection is growing on me, F&!$!!!!!

 

[dior_couture1245]

So even Courtney Love is totally aware that this collection is completely NOT designed. Her saying that she used to be able to get the same trench for $4.99 and calling these shoes Doc. Martens is really not flattering for Hedi at all. Although - it sounds like this statement is an endoresment of sorts - it really ends up being rather scathing in my opinion.

I just find it hilarious that in three months time or however long it takes, women are gonna pay six thousand dollars for a ****ing trench coat that cost us $4.99 back in the day. He got that look absolutely right. It’s not my look — I’ve never worn a Doctor Marten in my life, thank you very much! My feet are already big enough and I’m already too butch ... If Hedi makes me his muse, that’s great. And I really, really, really love the pre-fall and the first Saint Laurent seasons — that’s my uniform for onstage. They could’ve been a little more generous with the blouses, I have to say!

-thecut

 

[Izreal]

^ she is definitely endorsing the collection lol... fyi: http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f79/saint-laurent-pre-fall-2013-marilyn-courtney-kim-ariel-hedi-slimane-234669.html

 

[Uemarasan]

For a million dollars, I'd endorse this ugly collection, too. Soul be damned.

She is definitely criticizing this season, in a subtle, backhanded way so that vapid fashion types don't really understand what she's doing.

 

[laika]

^i don't think there's anything subtle about it. Courtney be Courtney

I don't think she can help saying what's on her mind,
no matter what she's getting payed...diplomacy and tact are not her strong suits.

anyway, i appreciate her transparency...i won't go so far as to call it integrity,
but it's cool that she can manage to say f*** you to the SLP customer
while being the brand's mascot.

 

[helmut.newton]

After doing a bit of research into the archives, I have to say I have a new found appreciation for Hedi's work for Saint Laurent. I can't say that I'm in love with this collection, but I can say that I appreciate his point of view.

He is bringing back the spirit of the house, and I'm curious to see how this translates in his next few collections.

Besides, Spring Summer and Pre-Fall were both strong collections with the perfect mixture of heritage and modernity. He understands how to translate the legacy, regardless of what everyone here in this thread seems to think!

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^I see your point, and I looked at your blog posting as well, and can see the similarities you've drawn from the archives and Hedi's work - it's nice to see them side by side.

And I agree, too, that it's nice to finally see some rebel spirit back at the house - a house which seemed to have lost itself in stuffy, bourgeouis elegance the last several years.

HOWEVER - Hedi is not actually designing anything here! That's the problem! I don't care if his inspiration is dirty, grungy rock chicks! I do care, though, that there is absolutely no design merit to his collections. They're simply clothes we've all seen before remade in more expensive fabrics. That's it. I have no comment on the quality of the clothes, since I haven't seen any of it in person yet - but from pictures alone, I don't see clothes here that, to quote Cathy Horyn are "worthy of their label."

I've used him as a comparison before, but John Galliano is a perfect example of a designer coming to an old, storied house and really doing electric things to the brand. Many people were and still are disgusted by what he did at Dior during the late 90's/early to mid 2000's. Many thought it completely blasmphemous! What did a sl*tty, hungover trailer trash Prom Queen have to do with the historic house of Dior?

However - I loved it. I loved that he took a dusy house and made it something completely new, completely revolutionary, it was fun, it was rebelious, it was street, it was relevent and it was a complete new world and new vision for Dior. BUT - and here's the big BUT - his clothes were actually incredible feats of tailoring, pattern making, draping and construction. And whether you liked it or not, you can't deny the imagination that this man had that, despite his dozens of references per collection, nothing ever looked like a replication.

That's what I'd like to see at Saint Laurent. Some imagination and some clothes that are actually designed and not replicated.

 

[Zazie]

I get some of the parallels, and I actually respect a designer's right to define his/her own approach, to bring the brand/collections to the contemporary mode. However, it may be the lack of sophistication in interpretation that bothers me most. YSL's were real women, sultry, classy, defiant, surreal or trashy, she has an unfathomable, unforgettable complexity, and to this day, many of us admire such qualities. Grunge, though an authentic anti-establishment post-punk movement, became a co-opted, fashionable & trendy 15 minutes moment with its cliched baby dolls and doc martens. Unfortunately, Slimane's collection looks like the "co-opted" Grunge, all commerce, with a lack of point of view, spirit or soul.

 

[softgrey]

^^I see your point, and I looked at your blog posting as well, and can see the similarities you've drawn from the archives and Hedi's work - it's nice to see them side by side.

And I agree, too, that it's nice to finally see some rebel spirit back at the house - a house which seemed to have lost itself in stuffy, bourgeouis elegance the last several years.

HOWEVER - Hedi is not actually designing anything here! That's the problem! I don't care if his inspiration is dirty, grungy rock chicks! I do care, though, that there is absolutely no design merit to his collections. They're simply clothes we've all seen before remade in more expensive fabrics. That's it. I have no comment on the quality of the clothes, since I haven't seen any of it in person yet - but from pictures alone, I don't see clothes here that, to quote Cathy Horyn are "worthy of their label."

I've used him as a comparison before, but John Galliano is a perfect example of a designer coming to an old, storied house and really doing electric things to the brand. Many people were and still are disgusted by what he did at Dior during the late 90's/early to mid 2000's. Many thought it completely blasmphemous! What did a sl*tty, hungover trailer trash Prom Queen have to do with the historic house of Dior?

However - I loved it. I loved that he took a dusy house and made it something completely new, completely revolutionary, it was fun, it was rebelious, it was street, it was relevent and it was a complete new world and new vision for Dior. BUT - and here's the big BUT - his clothes were actually incredible feats of tailoring, pattern making, draping and construction. And whether you liked it or not, you can't deny the imagination that this man had that, despite his dozens of references per collection, nothing ever looked like a replication.

That's what I'd like to see at Saint Laurent. Some imagination and some clothes that are actually designed and not replicated.

i couldn't agree more...
and the place where i do actually see the spirit of Yves is at Lanvin by Alber Elbaz...

 

[softgrey]

so- i took a meander through the new SL boutique in soho and checked out the new store design and the fall collection...

the jewelry is excellent- let me say that first...
i love it, but it is $$$$...

then-
the store itself doesn't work for me...
but i hate marble and chrome, so that's not a surprise...
it screams tacky Italian nouveau riche to me...
just shiny and in your face with no subtlety or finesse...
that's not sexy, imho...

however- the clothes are really more YSL for fall...
it's much better than spring was, in that, it really is updated versions of YSL originals...
my fave piece is a red blazer with black grosgrain trim...
that is an iconic YSL look...
and the red is the most gorgeous red you can imagine...
it's delicious...

the shape and silhouette is not as good though...
it's like his menswear was for dior homme...
short and shrunken and tight and boxy...
not at all feminine...
which is not so very YSL...
YSL women always had a waist and/or hips...
Hedi's women do not...
they are as prepubescent as his boys...
girls---not women at all...

i think chrissie hynde would look good in all of it though...


i get the whole androgny thing...
but androgyny is not genderless or asexual...
it is the combination of masculine and feminine...
unisex even...
this stuff is rather sex-less, imho...
you'd have to buy pieces here and there and put them together with other designers in order to give them any sort of sex appeal...
but i do think it's a big improvement over spring and headed in a good direction...
the prints and fabrics are beyond reproach...
the blouses are right on target, even if they are really $$$
i'd like to see some a line skirts in there rather than pencil leggings though...
and where are the vests???

come come hedi...
you can to better!

 

[GIVENCHYlover]

37 pages for this collection? Congrats Hedi, you're a genius $$$ .