FOUNDED IN 1961, YVES SAINT LAURENT WAS THE FIRST COUTURE HOUSE TO INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF LUXURY PRÊT-À- PORTER IN A 1966 COLLECTION CALLED ‘RIVE GAUCHE’, SYNONYMOUS WITH YOUTH AND FREEDOM.
THIS SHIFT REPRESENTED A FIRST CRITICAL STEP IN THE MODERNIZATION OF FASHION AND REVOLUTIONIZED THE SOCIO-CULTURAL LANDSCAPE.
IN 1999, THE LUXURY GOODS DIVISION OF THE PPR GROUP ACQUIRED YVES SAINT LAURENT AND, UNDER THE CREATIVE DIRECTION OF HEDI SLIMANE SINCE MARCH 2012, CONTINUES TO POSITION THE HOUSE AT THE SUMMIT OF THE LUXURY UNIVERSE.
TODAY, SAINT LAURENT COLLECTIONS INCLUDE WOMEN’S AND MEN’S READY-TO-WEAR, SHOES, HANDBAGS, SMALL LEATHER GOODS, JEWELRY, SCARVES, TIES AND EYEWEAR.
HEDI SLIMANE
IN 1996 PIERRE BERGÉ INSTALLS HEDI SLIMANE IN THE POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF MENS WEAR AT YVES SAINT LAURENT. LATER HE WILL BECOME ARTISTIC DIRECTOR. HE REVIVES YVES SAINT LAURENT RIVE GAUCHE, BASED ON THE ‘ATELIERS DE COUTURE’ AND TRANSPOSES THE SPIRIT OF COUTURE ‘AU MASCULIN’ REINTERPRETING ‘LE TAILLEUR’ AND THE ‘DRESSING UP’.
IN 2000 CHRISTIAN DIOR APPOINTS HIM AS CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF MENSWEAR WHERE HE CREATES DIOR HOMME. SLIMANE IMPOSES HIS STYLE AND HIS NEW MALE SILHOUETTE, STRETCHED. THE ‘SKINNY LOOK’ IS RELAYED BY HIS PEERS MALE AND FEMALE AND ADOPTED BY THE 2.0 GENERATION. THE SILHOUETTE, COMBINED WITH THE THIN BLACK TIE, BECOMES HIS SIGNATURE AND THE START IN FASHION OF THE ROCK REVIVAL.
IN JULY 2007 HEDI SLIMANE DECIDES NOT TO RENEW HIS CONTRACT WITH DIOR AND RELOCATES TO LOS ANGELES. IN APRIL 2002 HE IS THE FIRST MENSWEAR DESIGNER TO RECEIVE THE CFDA AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL DESIGNER.
IN MARCH 2012 YVES SAINT LAURENT APPOINTS HEDI SLIMANE AS CREATIVE DIRECTOR ASSUMING TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE BRAND IMAGE AND ALL ITS COLLECTIONS.
BORN IN PARIS IN 1968, HEDI SLIMANE LIVES IN LOS ANGELES. HE IS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND A FASHION DESIGNER. HE HAS PUBLISHED SEVERAL BOOKS INCLUDING ANTHOLOGY OF A DECADE 2011 BY JRP-RINGIER, A COMPREHENSIVE LEXICON OF HIS YEARS OF MUSIC, FASHION AND PHOTOGRAPHY. HE ALSO EXHIBITED WIDELY HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK IN EUROPE AND IN THE US.