French fashion designer Hedi Slimane, whose razor-thin black suits are sought after by fashion conscious men and women alike, is reportedly in discussions with LVMH about launching his own fashion house. Slimane, who abruptly parted ways with Dior Homme in March after a seven-year relationship was replaced by a former design assistant, Belgian designer Kris Van Assche. Slimane and LVMH had reportedly been unable to agree on the terms of Slimane's new contract. Slimane's departure was viewed at the time as a manifestation of the change in attitude by corporate heads of fashion houses who were eager to move away from the traditional model of the superstar designer in favor of low key "design teams".
Could it be that despite the best efforts of design houses to replace big name design talents by low key, home grown "design teams", they are reluctantly coming to grips with the fact that the kind of success generated by Tom Ford at Gucci or Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme actually requires more than just design competence? It is the difference between "good" and "great" and clients do know the difference.
Photographic References:
Left to right: Designer, Hedi Slimane (photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan); LVMH's Bernard and Delphine Arnault (photo by Greg Kessler); Dior Homme, Fall 2005 (photo by Marcio Madeiras).
Great news. A Hedi Slimane line should do well and appeal to Slimane's cult following. Would love to see a mens and womens collection.
Posted by: Haute Concept | Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 20:03