Rumours are rife following Hedi Slimane's departure from Saint Laurent

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Apr 1, 2016

Hedi Slimane has left Saint Laurent, and the musical chairs game has started again in earnest within the Paris fashion world! The Kering group announced in a press release on Friday 1st April the departure of the luxury label's creative director, confirming a rumour which had been floating around for weeks, without however explaining the reasons for the divorce.

According to the latest gossip, the luxury group was vexed at the designer's whims and could not find an agreement for his contract's renewal. Nothing more was needed to revive speculation, given how this departure has occurred after a string of resignations, all of them surprising in the small world of luxury goods, from that of Alber Elbaz at Lanvin to Raf Simons' at Christian Dior.

More recently, Massimiliano Giornetti announced he was leaving Salvatore Ferragamo, while Stefano Pilati left Ermenegildo Zegna. Enough to raise a spate of questions and make the fashion labels' conundrum for next season all the harder.

At Saint Laurent's, for the time being only one name has popped up as a successor to Hedi Slimane, 48. It is that of the young Belgian designer of Italian origin Anthony Vaccarello, 32, currently in charge of his own brand and of Versus, Versace's young line.

A graduate of the Cambre school of visual arts in Brussels, and a winner both of the Hyères Festival and the ANDAM prize, the talented stylist is famous for his impeccable cuts and micro dresses. He also has some points in common with Hedi Slimane.

Like Slimane, Vaccarello loves pared-down, rock music-inspired and very sexy clothes, while his ideal woman flirts with a sensuality that is a touch masculine. However, he is certainly less of a star than the Saint Laurent designer, and should be easier to manage.

Among the other potential candidates, the name of Stefano Pilati is worth mentioning: he was Creative Director at Saint Laurent from 2004 to 2012, before Hedi Slimane, and he is a free agent at the moment.

In the same vein, there are those who are willing to dream about Hedi Slimane's return to Dior, where he was Creative Director for menswear from 2000 to 2007. But recent rumours put young London designer Jonathan Saunders in pole position for that role.