TIME FOR REFORM
The rock and roll designer who is taking Saint Laurent back to its roots. By Nichakul Kitayanubhongse
When Hedi Slimane took over Saint Laurent in 2012 as Creative Director, he rocked the fashion world to the core. He ditched the house’s logo with the three-letter initials and even had the audacity to drop the first name of the founder—Yves, from the new brand name and logo he introduced. Shock wave s reverberated, but when François Pinault (Chair man of holding company, Ker ing) appointed Slimane, he knew this was not a designer who pussyfooted around. Slimane is dictatorial—and has a clear vision for the house. Slimane wiped out what his predecessor Stefano Pilati had done, and brought the brand r ight back to its roots—but with his definitive signature. A forceful palette of black and white served as a visual canvas for Slimane to present his youthful Left Bank girl and her rebellious rocker boyfriend. Their skinny shilhouettes clothed in the most audaciously expensive leathers, tartan checks and sequins, with Indie music blasting out loud as they traipsed their way from LA to Par is. Slimane delivered a modern bohemian lifestyle for today's youth—no expense spared.
In Par is, Slimane didn’t desecrate the brand as some had thought. Instead, he brought back the fighting spir it Yves had when he first launched his eponymous label in 1961. From the moment Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé started their fashion house, Yves had already built up a loyal clientele from his days at Dior. Likewise,
when Slimane star ted at Saint Laurent, he was already known for his ultra-slim, superbly tailored menswear at Dior Homme.The comparisons are obvious, but Slimane has upped the ante with Saint Laurent, designing for both the women’s and men’s line with a str ict point of view of youth from his new design base in LA.
Initially, the Yves Saint Laurent brand was a haute couture house located at 24 rue de l’ Université. Then in 1966,Yves Saint Laurent introduced luxur ious ready-to-wear apparel under the name Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. It was here that Yves created his iconic pieces such as the Le Smoking tuxedo suit in 1967, the Saf ar i Jacket in 1968, and the meticulously tailored Russian-inspired collection in 1976. It was also where Monsieur Cassandre created the YSL monogram that became a fashion icon. But these icons had since started to fade away and their splendour almost forgotten. Slimane saw a brand in serious need of a “rebirth,” with a focus on timeless classic styles. When he launched the Saint Laurent: Reform Project, all the drastic changes he had implemented from the very start—they all finally made sense.
His determination to return to couture glory has also been marked with the launch of the couture workshop at rue de l’Université in Paris. Forty years after opening the first boutique in Paris’ sixth arrondissement, Saint Laurent has returned to its roots.
The Reform Project will also see the sketches drawn by Yves Saint Laurent in the Seventies come to life again. Focusing on masculine silhouettes and unisex designs, the project will begin with menswear, particularly the jackets and trousers.
The classic items of the past are constantly being reinter preted and recreated, just like the pea jacket that debuted on the spring/summer 1962 runway—the highlight of his first collection. There would, of course, be renditions of Le Smoking from Yves’ fall/winter 1966 collection. Slimane is reissuing the Safar i Jacket and the jersey black jumpsuit, which was seen only as a painter’s uniform before Saint Laurent sent it down the runway.
The accessories are also fashion classics. Yves arm candy included the Sac de Jour, folded Rive Gauche square bag Betty bag with a chain, Janis shoes and Mary-Janes—all pieces Slimane will be bringing into the now. Slimane has shown that the past and the present are welded together. And no matter which era you grow up, you can fall in love with the genius of Saint Laurent.