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Hedi Slimane Has Left Saint Laurent, Kering Confirms
Hedi Slimane, an enfant terrible of high fashion who masterminded a turnaround of fortunes at Yves Saint Laurent, has left his position as creative and image director of the house after almost four years, it was announced on Friday.
The announcement, in a joint statement by Yves Saint Laurent and Kering, its parent group, ended months of speculation that Mr. Slimane would be departing.
Protracted contract negotiations between Mr. Slimane, who is based in Los Angeles, and Kering executives, who are based in Europe, were the talk of Paris Fashion Week last month. Whispers had reached their zenith before his triumphant — now final — show for the house, with an ’80s-inspired couture collection, no music and personalized seats for the coterie of editors and buyers invited to the private Parisian mansion where it was held.
Mr. Slimane, 47, a former men’s wear designer at Dior Homme, had made a series of sweeping changes to the house since his arrival in 2012, moving the design studio to Los Angeles from Paris, renaming its ready-to-wear line Saint Laurent, redesigning its logo and creating a distinctive design aesthetic that proved phenomenally successful with shoppers. The once-sluggish Saint Laurent is now a commercial powerhouse, reporting slightly less than 1 billion euros, or about $1.14 billion, in revenue for 2015, up 38 percent from 2014. Saint Laurent now accounts for 12 percent of sales by Kering’s luxury brands and 8 percent of the group’s total sales.
Thomas Chauvet, luxury analyst at the investment banking company Citi, noted that Saint Laurent’s popularity — and profits — during Mr. Slimane’s reign had been buoyed by his successful transition into leather goods, which accounted for around half of all the house’s sales last year.
“At the end of a four-year mission, which has led to the complete repositioning of the brand, the Maison Yves Saint Laurent announces the departure of Hedi Slimane as its creative and image director,’’ the statement said. It lauded what it called the “holistic reform” during his tenure “that has brought back its utmost modernity and fashion authority while keeping alive and respecting the original vision of Mr. Saint Laurent.”
The Evolution of Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent
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There was no comment in the statement from Mr. Slimane, nor any word of who might succeed him. Kering said it would make an announcement on a new creative direction for Saint Laurent, suggesting that a replacement had already been chosen.
Designers who have been touted for the position include Anthony Vaccarello — whose Paris show was unusually crowded last month as a result of the talk —and Jonathan Saunders.
Mr. Slimane’s departure comes on the heels of others at major houses in recent months, including Raf Simons at Christian Dior and Alber Elbaz at Lanvin.
Praise for Mr. Slimane’s talent flew thick and fast from the boardroom.
“I would like to thank Hedi Slimane very much for his vision in reforming such an iconic house as Yves Saint Laurent,” said Francesca Bellettini, chief executive of Yves Saint Laurent. “The direction that has been taken over the last four years represents an incredible foundation for the brand to build on for its continuous success.”
François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive of the Kering Group, said: “What Yves Saint Laurent has achieved over the past four years represents a unique chapter in the history of the house. I am very grateful to Hedi Slimane, 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.”
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