The INS & OUTS at Yves Saint Laurent
IN
Anthony Vaccarello has been named Yves Saint Laurent’s creative head. Vaccarello, 36, left, will show his first collection for the French fashion house in October, parent company Kering said in a statement Monday. He’s spent the past three years working alongside Donatella Versace at Versace’s Versus brand, where he became creative director in 2015. Kering didn’t say if Vaccarello will keep designing for his own label, which he founded in 2009.
HIS STYLE
The Belgian designer is known for black, figurehugging dresses and asymmetrical designs.
WELCOME
“I am very proud to welcome such a vivid and young force,” Kering chief executive officer Francois-Henri Pinault said in a statement, adding he expects the designer to build on Saint Laurent’s “solid foundations.”
OUT
Vaccarello replaces Hedi Slimane, 47, right, who almost tripled sales in four years atop Saint Laurent.
HIS STYLE
If you want to see how powerful the Saint Laurent Paris brand became under Slimane, turn on some music. Mark Ronson got his “Chucks” Converse sneakers on with Saint Laurent in monster hit Uptown Funk, while for rapper G-Eazy, a closet full of Saint Laurent is as much a status symbol as a Ferrari. The combination of edgy image and wearable styles helped Saint Laurent — Slimane dropped the Yves — achieve the turnaround Kering sought.
GOODBYE
“I am very grateful to Hedi Slimane,” said Pinault, “and the whole Yves Saint Laurent team, for having set the path that the house has successfully embraced, and which will grant longevity to this legendary brand.”