Hedi Slimane’s Punk Celine Looks
Undeniable Rebel Talent Runs in his Veins
The name Hedi Slimane is synonymous with fashion. The houses of Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and most recently Celine have all been graced with his creative direction. However, you might not be aware that Slimane’s passions reach far beyond the world of fashion.
Hedi Slimane first appeared on the fashion radar in 1996, when he was appointed director of men’s ready-to-wear at Yves Saint Laurent. He stayed there until 2001, when he became creative director for Dior Homme (he apparently turned down a creative directorship at Jill Sander to do so). It was during his time at Dior that Slimane really made a name for himself. A year after he took the reigns at Dior, the house’s couture sales jumped 41 percent, and he received the CFDA award for International Designer of the Year. Celebrities started to take notice as well. He designed Brad Pitt’s wedding suit for his marriage to Jennifer Aniston, dressed actresses like Nicole Kidman despite never having designed a womenswear collection, and even created stagewear for musical powerhouses like Mick Jagger and Daft Punk. Oh, and one other thing: he literally redefined the male silhouette while at Dior, with “skinny” becoming THE go-to shape for men’s suiting and sportswear.
More recent years saw Hedi Slimane return to Yves Saint Laurent, this time as creative director (2012-2016), and most recently Celine, where he joined in January of last year. Slimane definitely has his own stamp and trademark aesthetic (sleek, slim, lots of black), and he 100 percent brought it with him to Celine. His spring 2019 collection is a perhaps too-similar version to his rebranded Saint Laurent (he dropped the Yves). It was packed with the slimmest of silhouettes for both men and women (it’s worth mentioning that this was Celine’s first menswear collection), and featured enough black for a year’s worth of fashionable funerals.
Impact on fashion aside, Hedi Slimane has also made a name for himself in the worlds of art and photography. In 2000, he served as guest editor for the New York quarterly magazine “Visionaire.” Right after leaving his first stint at Yves Saint Laurent, he moved to Berlin, where he took up a residency at the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art. His photographs were published in 2 books during this time: 2002’s “Berlin,” about the city’s nightlife/music scene, and 2004’s “Stage” which focused on the rock revival of the time. 2005’s “London Birth of a Cult” featured then unknown rocker Pete Doherty going about his daily routine and performing on stage. In May of the following year, Slimane created his photographic blog “Hedi Slimane Diary” (hedislimane.com), a veritable treasure trove of his black-and-white photography.
As Slimane once said himself: “I started at 11 with black-and-white photography. It has always been a natural and defining part of my life. A personal, intimate process. I am deeply attached to each of the characters I depict, and to my photography archive.”
Whether it’s fashion or photography, Hedi Slimane certainly knows how to leave a lasting impression. His keen eye and trademark aesthetic have combined to make just about anything he creates instantly identifiable as his. If his success in both arenas tells us anything, then there should be no doubt that Slimane’s creations will only get better.
