Kering confirmed this morning that Hedi Slimane is leaving Saint Laurent. The rumours about the designer’s exit have been circulating since the beginning of the year, but have been repeatedly dismissed by sources close to Kering, while Slimane himself refused to give any comment.
The initial contract between Slimane and Kering expired yesterday on Thursday, March 31st. The designer and the fashion conglomerate are said to have failed to reach an agreement on renewing it. In a joint statement with Saint Laurent François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of Kering, thanked Slimane for his last years’ work and “for having set the path that the house has successfully embraced, and which will grant longevity to this legendary brand”.
Hedi Slimane was appointed creative director of Saint Laurent in March 2012 and took personal responsibility for the whole production process within the brand including the creation of advertising campaigns and staging fashion shows. Causing controversy in the fashion circles Slimane, among other things, changed the name and the image of the brand by adding rock’n’roll and punk motives to his collections. While his designs have been widely criticised as ‘teenage-like’, the profits of Saint Laurent have steadily risen during his four-year tenure at Saint Laurent reaching 974 million euros last year.
It still remains to be seen what the designer will be doing after his departure from Saint Laurent. Before joining the brand Slimane is known to have devoted five years to projects in photography and art, having among other things lived in an art-residency at Berlin’s KW. He also works on an ongoing project dedicated to music photography.
WHO’S NEXT?
Kering has confirmed that the most likely candidate to replace Slimane is the 33-year-old Anthony Vaccarello, the Belgian designer lauded for having rebooted Donatella Versace’s Versus brand.
Hedi’s bags are packed
Images courtesy of hedislimane.com