Breaking: YSL Dies
Yves Saint Laurent has died in Paris. He was 71. We never met him, but god, the shoes...
Yves Saint Laurent has died in Paris. He was 71. We never met him, but god, the shoes...
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Breaking: Hedi Slimane in at YSL, Official Announcement Expected Tomorrow
Hedi Slimane is as good as confirmed as the new creative director of Yves Saint Laurent. Stefano Pilati, YSL's creative director for the past eight years, showed his final collection for the French fashion house yesterday evening and today, the International Herald Tribune's Suzy Menkes says the company will make an announcement tomorrow declaring that Slimane is next in line. This was expected--when news broke of Pilati's departure from YSL, the company said they would announce a new creative director in coming weeks and industry insiders said that Slimane was a likely, almost definite choice to replace him. And while we've grown more skeptical of the little creative director rumors Menkes likes to slip into her show reviews, we're inclined to believe this one. She dedicates an entire post to the news, writing: Hedi Slimane will be named on Wednesday as the new creative director at Yves Saint Laurent, according to a senior executive at YSL’s parent company, PPR, who has followed Mr. Slimane’s career in the world of artistic photography. The executive would not be named until after the announcement because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Pierre Bergé on Hedi Slimane: 'He’s a Member of the YSL Family'
Friday night, the Denver Art Museum held a black tie opening gala for their major fashion exhibition coup, Yves Saint Laurent: The Retrospective. I heard more than one Denverian (?) refer to this as Denver's biggest event since the Democratic National Convention. Indeed, hundreds of Denver’s elite showed up as well as the mayor, a few French ambassadors, and several chic French people and members of the Fondation Pierre Bergé Yves Saint Laurent, including its founder, co-founder of the Yves Saint Laurent house and Saint Laurent's longtime partner, Pierre Bergé. It was clear that all of them were genuinely happy to be there and could not have been more pleased with the exhibit and its surprising new home. Berge, who, from a distance and by some accounts, seems like he could be a difficult man to please, said in a brief speech at the event, “Yves Saint Laurent would be very proud to be here.” Later that evening, we tracked him down inside the exhibit (the museum set aside a private seating area for him which he never used), where he told us he didn’t have a favorite part of the exhibit. “I like everything,” he said. “Of course for me what is important is the tuxedo [wall] because it is the first one and also the Mondrian dress because it is an iconic dress.” He had equally nice and enthusiastic things to say about Yves Saint Laurent’s brand new creative director, Hedi Slimane:
Hedi Slimane May Bring Haute Couture Back to YSL
Raf Simons may have gotten all the buzz this past couture week, but now it's Hedi Slimane's turn. WWD got a sneak peek at an interview in Vogue Paris's August issue with YSL's newly minted creative director, Hedi Slimane. In it, he reveals that, despite the fact that he's never designed womenswear, let alone couture, he might be the one to bring it back. He says, “Haute couture is a legitimate subject for Yves Saint Laurent and could resume one day,” but that “the priority today is to revamp and redeploy the luxury ready-to-wear.” To that end, the issue will also mark the unveiling of the ready-to-wear label's new name and logo:
Confirmed: Hedi Slimane In at YSL
Finally there's one rumor we can stop worrying about. We received an official press release early today from YSL and PPR, confirming that Hedi Slimane is officially back at YSL: Yves Saint Laurent and PPR announce today the appointment of Hedi Slimane as Creative Director of the maison Yves Saint Laurent. Slimane will assume total creative responsibility for the brand image and all its collections. In parallel with this new position, he will continue to pursue his career in photography.