Saint Laurent F/W 13.14 Paris

[Label Basher]

fashionista.com

A Tribute to Kurt and Courtney at Saint Laurent
by Leah Chernikoff

After all the backlash leading up to and following Hedi Slimane’s debut show for Saint Laurent–the rebranding of the name and ensuing confusion, the exclusion of various top editors from the show, the Twitter tirade directed at Cathy Horyn–what to expect from his second collection?

The setting was pretty similar to last season’s debut: it was held at the same salon in the Grand Palais, which was done up starkly with raw wooden benches; an A-list front row including Kirsten Dunst, Garrett Hedlund, The Kills, and Jessica Chastain attacted the flashbulbs; and a stellar soundsytem blasted a great rock soundtrack (“Tidal Wave 13” by Thee Oh Sees).

But whereas Slimane’s first collection for Saint Laurent closely referenced the codes and silhouettes established by the house’s founder, this second showing offered up barely a trace of Yves. You had to remind yourself you were watching a Saint Laurent show.

An emaciated-looking Hanne Gaby Odiele opened the show, stomping down the runway like a bat out of hell in a flimsy black and gold mullet-hemmed mini dress and an oversized flannel-like cardigan. She set the tone for a grunge-inspired show full of boyfriend flannels, babydoll dresses, and sexy tight leather bra tops and mini skirts. We could easily see front-rower Kirsten Dunst or even Elle Fanning in that adorably precious floral print school girl dress that closed the show.

If Hedi Slimane’s first men’s show–full of flannels and big ski sweaters and long scarves–was a nod to Kurt Cobain, then this collection was all about Courtney Love. Courtney in LA, that is, not Seattle, as the LA-based designer explained the theme of the show was meant to be “California Grunge.”

Immediate reactions following the show ran the gamut: Some loved it, a lot of people hated it, and still more were confused. “Am I watching Saint Laurent or TopShop?” the LA Times‘s Booth Moore tweeted. On the other end of the spectrum, the Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine tweeted “You’re doing it, Saint Laurent! (Insert resounding YES! here).”

Those contrasting reactions make perfect sense, though: This collection is made for a young person like Medine–a casting of what looked to be teenaged models underscored that fact. I don’t know many grown women who could or would want to wear a dress from a collection where the hemline never dropped past mid-thigh. (OK, so there were some well-tailored black jackets and a leather trench that your mom might wear, but that’s it.)

So the question we have is this: If Saint Laurent is for the young folks, will it come at prices they can afford? Sadly, we think we know the answer.

 

[Izreal]

..the devil is in the details..

style.com

 

[ogepma]

source: http://maisonmartinmargielous.tumblr.com

I saw this picture and almost wept. At least we would get to see more of this at Agnona.

Last I heard, YSL was dong very well under Pilati (sales were up 40% last year and that was not due to Slimane). I read an article on The New York Times where Francois Pinault said the reasons he replaced Pilati and Ghesquire was because the brands, whilst doing very well, could do better. I think greed was really talking to him. With Wang, I think he picked well but with this guy, its clearly a disaster. If I were him, I would fire Slimane now or reprimand him before it gets any worse. Clearly he's been given way too much freedom.

 

[balmain1914]

So Hedi Slimane interned at DSquared2 last year.

 

[Marc10]

^^Let's overreact here tho, Pilati's stuff were even worse than Tom Ford's.

 

[balmain1914]

will cathy 'bullet' hedi this time? lol...

 

[ogepma]

^^Let's overreact here tho, Pilati's stuff were even worse than Tom Ford's.

That's very subjective. It was certainly not worse in my eyes and in the eyes of many others.

 

[UpperEchelon]

I didn't think this was possible but the details photos just made the collection even worse imo

 

[ad041715]

Yves is rolling in his grave. What is this trash? This isn't even laughable, it's plain tragic.

 

[Label Basher]

Tim Blanks, Style.com

California grunge was the inspiration for Hedi Slimane's second women's collection for Saint Laurent. Though the huge banners outside the Grand Palais still proclaimed "YSL" in the old typeface, that is more likely to be one last wrinkle of the past on the list to be ironed out, rather than an oversight on the part of a man whose yen for control is legend—to the point where you might almost think the stifling heat of the venue was his way to establish an ambience (an afternoon on Venice Beach, perhaps?).

The collection was set up as an extension of the menswear Slimane showed in January. The music today was from the San Francisco garage band Thee Oh Sees, who are part of the same scene as Ty Segall, the man responsible for January's fantastic soundtrack. The invitation arrived as the same little black artist's book, this time reproducing the rather wonderful paintings of young L.A. painter Theodora Allen. The art blog Little Paper Planes says her "carefully researched paintings expertly skirt nostalgia to examine longing and legacy."

With a little adjustment, that's a pretty fair description of what Slimane has been trying to do with Saint Laurent. The legacy today was grunge, not YSL; the longing was his own ardent attachment to a scene that was a continent and an ocean away from a kid in Paris at the beginning of the nineties. Slimane is not the only designer motivated by a powerful impulse to reimagine youthful yearnings. Anna Sui and Marc Jacobs immediately spring to mind as masterful mediums of pop-cultural watersheds like The Factory or the Beats. And of course, it was Jacobs who famously lost a job over his original recasting of grunge in a high-fashion context.

But there was no job on the line, no sense of present danger, with Slimane's collection today. And with regards to that adjustment, there was no expert skirting of nostalgia. Almost nothing looked new. Which didn't trouble Alexandra Richards, Alison Mosshart, and Sky Ferreira in the least. Such dream clients were all thrilled by what they'd seen. "That's the way I dress anyway," was their party line on the baby dolls, the schoolgirl slips, the vintage florals, the random mash-ups of sloppy cardigans, plaid shirts, and sparkly dresses accessorized with ironic strings of pearls and black bows, fishnets and biker boots. All well and good, and money in the bank for retailers etc., etc., but anyone expecting the frisson of the future that Slimane once provided would have to feel let down yet again. At the odd moments when he allowed it to happen—as in a cutaway jacket over a plaid shirt over slashed black leather cuissardes—there was a glimpse of the kind of rigorous sensibility that hybridized passion and fashion into an irresistible force at Dior Homme.

But wouldn't it be radical if Slimane was actually saying that there is nothing new under the fashion sun, that all that ultimately exists is the energy and inspiration you derive from those elements of the past that you value and love. The same kind of fanboy ardor makes, say, Shibuya 109 in Tokyo or Trash and Vaudeville in New York such wonderful retro romps. This collection will undoubtedly send orgasmic tremors through such places.

 

[jeffandtheworld]

I wonder why did they fire Stefano and hired this man.
YSL used to be so glamorous. Wheres the glamour?

 

[fee de foret]

oh god i am so sick of the "youth culture/trying to appeal to a younger demographic" its COMPLETE AND UTTER nonsense! teenagers are awful, immature and a general headache to deal with. i was, you were, 99 percent of the population was! its insulting that so much of the fashion world thinks all of us adult women want to go back to our youthful teenage days. i wouldn't go back to being a teenager for all the money in the world.

 

[Caffeine]

oh no....this is just not working

 

[MyNameIs]

I never read fashion reviews and now I know why. They are so spineless. And I love how when all else fails, claim you're trying to reach the 'young consumers'. As if the young consumers are out there looking solely for ugly clothes.

 

[before]

Tim Blanks' review is interesting, there is some honesty there, until you get to the last paragraph which feels like a cop out. I would not expect Slimane to be self-deprecating/humorous like that, not from someone how goes on twitter rants.

 

[Marc10]

oh god i am so sick of the "youth culture/trying to appeal to a younger demographic" its COMPLETE AND UTTER nonsense! teenagers are awful, immature and a general headache to deal with. i was, you were, 99 percent of the population was! its insulting that so much of the fashion world thinks all of us adult women want to go back to our youthful teenage days. i wouldn't go back to being a teenager for all the money in the world.

That's a quite stupid statement. Well and young girls don't wanna dress like adult women either. Labels need to present products that appeal to both younger and older consumers, no one is more important than the other.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

“…the house he renamed Saint Laurent on Monday night during Paris Fashion Week.”

Why just “Saint Laurent” – is he taking a swipe at the canonization of designers and their legacies? That they’re “sainted” and that as such their legacies must be upheld …or else? Or is the renaming as such just a coincidence? One reviewer asked if he was playing a joke on the industry; I have to wonder myself. Is it all a postmodern “sacred cows must be slain” thing? I don’t know.

Interesting, people justified Tom Ford’s F/W collection based on its humour or his F-You to the industry; to be honest, I’d rather wear some of this collection – but not at its likely pricepoint! – than any of Ford’s. I am not saying this clothing is amazing or justifying the collection, but there are things here I’d wear (I loved the 90s, admittedly, not to mention grunge).

But I don’t think he’s after Courtney Love; it’s Kurt and Courtney’s daughter, Frances Bean – the one he photographed very eloquently, in fact – as well as her generation that he’s after.

And St. Laurent’s house has appealed to hipsters and rich kids in the past. Is he totally off base? Probably.

I do recall, though, how in the Edie Sedgwick biography, Edie was quoted as wearing the “chubby” Saint Laurent fur coat to underground films, and in one of the reviews someone posted here, the writer mentions that the Rive Gauche line appealed to the bohemian kids of the upper classes, not to mention the Studio 54 set.

This is perhaps meant to appeal to the kids of rock stars/celebs/filmmakers – the new royalty? I don’t know.
The biggest issue is that it’s just in the wrong house. There have been such drastic changes – the move to LA, the complete about-face in approach and style.

I wonder if he’ll survive this?

On the other hand, I can think of one other designer – what was his name again – MARC something? – who was fired for showing a grunge collection at an established label. What happened to him afterward?? [I was typing this and just read Tim Blank’s review – he beat me to it! ]

Oh yeah, he designs for a large Paris house, not to mention his two titular lines and some pretty huge influence in the industry.
The parallels are kind of there; do we have another coup in the making? Let’s see.

Forget the clothes; the intrigue is totally exciting!

 

[eugenius]

^But that's the thing, Marc10, YSL was always about WOMEN, regardless of who's designing. All we're seeing are clothes for young girls, and ugly ones at that.

And those sequined pantyhose just look incredibly annoying to wear.

 

[fashionista-ta]

This remind me more of Anna Sui really! In Paris!

that is far too harsh ... to anna sui. she has maybe done lolita, but her models never look like they're seconds away from getting arrested.

and dolce ... positively wholesome by comparison.

 

[Style Savvy]

This is a disgrace to the legacy that the previous designers have left in the helm. I am forgetting that this happened. Yves Saint Laurent must be rolling in his grave right now.