5 Things About Hedi Slimane
Hedi Slimane may have courted controversy when he dropped the ‘Yves,’ moved to Los Angeles and sent youth-infused, rocker looks down the runway, but Mr. Saint Laurent himself was no stranger to similar criticism. Riffing on the slim-fit tailoring that made him a legend at Dior Homme and with a new generation of understated It bags, Slimane’s reign is a new era with history. Read on for 5 things you may not know about Hedi.
1. He’s a photographer.
Even before starting out in fashion, Slimane took photographs to document his thoughts. His black and white images capture his obsession with Los Angeles, fashion, young rockers and legends alike, and while between tenures at Dior Homme and Saint Laurent, he published Anthology of a Decade, a four volume boxed set compiling his photographic work over the preceding 10 years. Now at Saint Laurent, he’s continued his to add to his body of work with photographs for the house’s Music Project campaign starring legends like Marianne Faithfull, Courtney Love and Kim Gordon.
2. He’s Karl Lagerfeld’s weight loss inspiration.
The Chanel creative director famously lost 92 pounds in just over a year simply in order to fit into Slimane’s signature superskinny Dior Homme designs.
3. He’s an Angeleno.
Slimane moved to SoCal in 2007 after departing Dior Homme and ruffled feathers in 2012 when he also relocated the Saint Laurent atelier to Los Angeles.
4. He’s had a punk song written about him.
In the mid-aughts, Boston-based punk band Keys To The Streets of Fear released the song “Hedi Slimane,” an ode to the designer’s style, pants and rock and roll ethos. Slimane told The New Yorker, “I could not hear or understand the lyrics at all.”
