Hedi Slimane

Hedi Slimane (born July 5, 1968) is a French photographer and grand couturier.

From 1992 to 1995 he assisted fashion consultant and press agent Jean-Jacques Picart on the centenary of the project "monogram canvas " of Louis Vuitton.

The project invited seven fashion designers—Azzedine Alaia, Helmut Lang, Sybilla, Manolo Blahnik, Isaac Mizrahi, Romeo Gigli, and Vivienne Westwood—to reinterpret the monogram canvas in celebration of its longevity.

Picart introduced Slimane to Pierre Bergé, who was searching for a men's wear designer for Yves Saint Laurent.

To Slimane's surprise, Pierre Bergé hired him in 1996 as ready-to-wear director of men's collections at the house, where he would later become artistic director.

Slimane expressed great admiration for Yves Saint Laurent, yet, he was not interested in paying homage to the legendary designer—he was more interested in capturing the "spirit" and "mystique" of him.

When Slimane started, there were only a handful of men's designs at the house dating from Mr. Saint Laurent's early years.

Slimane created a new line built on these iconic pieces that was imbued with mystery, seduction, and an element of subversiveness.

It also challenged gender roles, just as Mr. Saint Laurent had done earlier.

Slimane expressed that "everything I do is based on seduction."

One report describes his designs' sex appeal as, "not based on over-the-top embellishment ... rather, it comes from the same honest principles that have always driven fashion: cut, proportion and silhouette."

Slimane's designs catapulted sales and led to their increased availability at boutiques around the world.

From 2000 to 2007, he held the position of creative director for Dior Homme (the menswear line of Christian Dior).

After the Black Tie collection for autumn-winter 2000–01, which foreshadowed the advent of Slimane's silhouette, and the debuts of "skinny," he chose to leave YSL, declined the offer of creative directorship at Jil Sander, and accepted the position of creative director for menswear at Christian Dior.

In June 2001, he headed up the launch of Dior Homme's first fragrance under his creative control, named Higher.

He designed the packaging and worked with Richard Avedon on the accompanying advertising campaign.

Readymade FC composed "F Me" (2001–02) and the legendary "Flexion" (2002–03).

In April 2002, Hedi Slimane was the first menswear designer to receive the CFDA award for International Designer.

David Bowie, whom Hedi Slimane dressed for his tours, presented the Award.

Thanks in part to Slimane as the creative director of the fashion house, Dior's business, which includes haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories, increased volume and profit by 41 percent in 2002.

Brad Pitt had Slimane create his wedding suit for his marriage to Jennifer Aniston.

Although he never designed a womenswear collection, he dressed female celebrities including Madonna and Nicole Kidman during his tenure at Dior.

He also created stagewear for groups such as The Libertines, Daft Punk, Franz Ferdinand, and The Kills, and artists such as Mick Jagger, Beck, and Jack White.

Slimane commissioned original soundtracks for his runway shows for Dior Homme, created by artists such as Beck, Readymade FC (Jean-Philippe Verdin), and bands such as Phoenix, The Rakes, and Razorlight.

The track "In the Morning" was composed by Razorlight exclusively for the Dior Homme show.

Slimane was known for working with emerging avant-garde artists.

These New Puritans, composed "Navigate, Navigate" for the last défilé of Dior Homme in January 2007.

Slimane became known for redefining the male silhouette, widely recreated in fashion and advertising (fashion and fragrances).

In July 2007, Slimane did not renew his contract at Dior Homme.

From 2012 to 2016, he was the creative director for Yves Saint Laurent.

Since February 1, 2018, Slimane has been the creative, artistic and image director of Celine.

In November 2018, Hedi Slimane topped the annual list of Vanity Fair's "50 most influential French people in the world".

Slimane was born in the 19th arrondissement of Paris to a Tunisian father, who was an accountant, and an Italian mother, a dressmaker.

Two of his uncles were tailors.

In his youth, he and his mother made clothes together: Slimane sketched designs, the two would shop for fabrics and complete fittings, and his mother would cut and sew them.

He considered finding a career in the Fashion industry as too competitive; instead, he studied Political Science and pursued a career in Journalism.

At 11, he discovered photography, received his first camera and learned black and white darkroom printing.

He studied Art History at the École du Louvre and completed a tailor apprenticeship at a men's designer house.

Slimane has no formal training in fashion.

Early in his career he worked for designer José Lévy.