Hedi Slimane Respects the Yves in Yves Saint Laurent, OK?
Hedi Slimane has historically let his clothes do the talking, rarely speaking to the media. But now that he’s parted ways with Saint Laurent (or is it Yves Saint Laurent again?), he’s turning to another medium to express himself: Twitter.
On Thursday night, the fashion designer reactivated his account, which sat dormant for about three years following a rant against Cathy Horyn, to defend his deference to the YSL logo, which he apparently attempted to wipe amid a rebrand to just Saint Laurent.
Slimane’s seemingly offended that recent reports have accused him of disrespecting the logo during his tenure at the French brand. Anthony Vaccarello, the current creative director, incorporated the YSL logo into a heel design, prompting many to offer him praise — and allegedly drag Slimane.
This prompted Slimane — or a third party, it’s unclear — to post a short history of his usage of the symbol to social media.
“Fact checking / There have been inaccurate statements on recent articles regarding Hedi and the usage of the YSL historical logo,” he began. “For the record, the usage of the Cassandre logo was entirely part of Hedi’s reform project for the house from the early days of 2012 to 2016.” What followed was a short history of each time Slimane used the YSL logo.
HEDI PHOTOGRAPHED THE PRECIOUS ORIGINAL DRAWING, DESIGNED BY THE ARTIST CASSANDRE, AT YVES’S HOME, RUE DE BABYLONE IN NOVEMBER 2008 pic.twitter.com/bSGnCFCTgI
— Hedi Slimane (@hedislimanetwit) October 6, 2016
90S RECORD / HEDI HAS A HISTORY WITH USING THE YSL LOGO/ BLACK TIE 1999, HEDI DESIGNED A GIANT AND LUMINOUS YSL ON A PROTO LED STAGE SCREEN pic.twitter.com/MtSVgrerp3
— Hedi Slimane (@hedislimanetwit) October 6, 2016
FOR THE RECORD / MARCH 2012 HEDI STARTS HIS NEW DESIGN PROJECT INSTALLING A YSL LOGO FOR THE FENCE OF HIS TEMPORARY STUDIO, RUE FRANCOIS 1ER pic.twitter.com/xU1YBbBHZI
— Hedi Slimane (@hedislimanetwit) October 6, 2016
Slimane documents instances where the iconic logo was photographed, used as an LED, or built into the architecture of Saint Laurent buildings. It was even used as confetti at a men’s show.
FOR THE RECORD / YSL CONFETTI AT THE END OF THE SURF SOUND FASHION SHOW IN JUNE 2015 pic.twitter.com/FRbgATg1XJ
— Hedi Slimane (@hedislimanetwit) October 6, 2016
It should be noted that Slimane did try to rid the Yves from Yves Saint Laurent’s ready-to-wear line of the brand, changing it to Saint Laurent Paris. That said, the brand maintained the usage of the YSL acronym and accompanying logo elsewhere. Slimane himself even incorporated it into the brand’s accessories.
What’s more, when Slimane stopped the usage of Yves, it wasn’t a sign of disrespect. In fact, he intended the opposite. The designer used the full Yves Saint Laurent moniker for the couture ateliers that were relaunched under his purview.
IN CONCLUSION, IT IS ACCURATE TO SAY THAT THE YSL ICONIC INITIALS WERE IN FACT CELEBRATED AND CHAMPIONED BY HEDI
— Hedi Slimane (@hedislimanetwit) October 6, 2016
Slimane’s Twitter tirade came on the same day he reportedly filed further legal action against Kering, YSL’s parent company. In June, a court ordered Kering to pay Slimane $13 million in a non-compete clause dispute. Slimane’s allegedly seeking an additional $2.2 million.
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
