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Exclusive: Hedi Slimane On Saint Laurent’s Rebirth, His Relationship With Yves & the Importance of Music
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Dirk Standen
August 12, 2015
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From the moment Hedi Slimane took the creative reins at Saint Laurent in March 2012, his every move has been talked about, tweeted about, and discussed, dissected, and debated. His supporters have hailed the way he has brought a revitalized allure and skyrocketing growth (revenues have doubled during his tenure and sales were up 27% for the second quarter of 2015) to the famous Paris fashion house. His critics, on the other hand, continue to be scandalized by the way he has injected an aesthetic influenced by musical and youth subcultures into Yves Saint Laurent’s legacy (even though youth and freedom were essential elements of Yves’ own work in the sixties).
Until now, though, one voice has been missing from the discussion: that of Slimane himself. Notoriously press shy, he has given less than a handful of interviews since he started at Saint Laurent, and even those have been guarded. Now, as he prepares to reintroduce couture to the house along with a breathtaking new Paris headquarters for the fitting rooms and ateliers, he is ready to break his silence. In this interview, conducted over email, he talks candidly and in great detail about his strategy for Saint Laurent, his quest to bring an extraordinary level of authenticity to his clothes, and his relationship with his critics.
He also opens up for the first time about his personal life: his love for Yves and Pierre Berge, the original founders of the house now owned by the Kering group, his attachment to L.A., his sense of being an outsider, the enduring influence of his seamstress mother, his religious faith, and the homophobia and bullying he faced during his youth.
It’s no exaggeration to say that, in his three and a half years at Saint Laurent, Slimane has completely shaken up the fashion industry, and his clothes and his methods have been copied wholesale by many other designers. This is how he did it.
Let’s start with your latest initiative: You are reintroducing couture to Saint Laurent. Why did you feel this was the right moment?
I was simply waiting for the garden of the Couture House to be completed.
It took six additional months. The project was in fact ready for about a year, but I was only able to shoot the first couture campaign after the last men’s show. I had this precise idea in mind from really the beginning in 2012, and it took all those years to have all the elements ready, the House, the Ateliers, the team, and of course the Ready-to-Wear in place. The “Yves Saint Laurent” couture label prototypes were created in 2012, next to the “Saint Laurent” ready to wear labels.
continue reading here:
https://www.yahoo.com/style/exclusiv...446645943.html
________________
Dirk Standen
August 12, 2015
________________
From the moment Hedi Slimane took the creative reins at Saint Laurent in March 2012, his every move has been talked about, tweeted about, and discussed, dissected, and debated. His supporters have hailed the way he has brought a revitalized allure and skyrocketing growth (revenues have doubled during his tenure and sales were up 27% for the second quarter of 2015) to the famous Paris fashion house. His critics, on the other hand, continue to be scandalized by the way he has injected an aesthetic influenced by musical and youth subcultures into Yves Saint Laurent’s legacy (even though youth and freedom were essential elements of Yves’ own work in the sixties).
Until now, though, one voice has been missing from the discussion: that of Slimane himself. Notoriously press shy, he has given less than a handful of interviews since he started at Saint Laurent, and even those have been guarded. Now, as he prepares to reintroduce couture to the house along with a breathtaking new Paris headquarters for the fitting rooms and ateliers, he is ready to break his silence. In this interview, conducted over email, he talks candidly and in great detail about his strategy for Saint Laurent, his quest to bring an extraordinary level of authenticity to his clothes, and his relationship with his critics.
He also opens up for the first time about his personal life: his love for Yves and Pierre Berge, the original founders of the house now owned by the Kering group, his attachment to L.A., his sense of being an outsider, the enduring influence of his seamstress mother, his religious faith, and the homophobia and bullying he faced during his youth.
It’s no exaggeration to say that, in his three and a half years at Saint Laurent, Slimane has completely shaken up the fashion industry, and his clothes and his methods have been copied wholesale by many other designers. This is how he did it.
Let’s start with your latest initiative: You are reintroducing couture to Saint Laurent. Why did you feel this was the right moment?
I was simply waiting for the garden of the Couture House to be completed.
It took six additional months. The project was in fact ready for about a year, but I was only able to shoot the first couture campaign after the last men’s show. I had this precise idea in mind from really the beginning in 2012, and it took all those years to have all the elements ready, the House, the Ateliers, the team, and of course the Ready-to-Wear in place. The “Yves Saint Laurent” couture label prototypes were created in 2012, next to the “Saint Laurent” ready to wear labels.
continue reading here:
https://www.yahoo.com/style/exclusiv...446645943.html
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