A lot has gone down since Hedi Slimane presented his first runway for Saint Laurent in 2012, an event that was overshadowed by criticism over who he did and didn’t invite to show. Since then with the decline in magazine sales, the fashion press is less powerful than ever and in Slimane’s case, even then their opinion didn’t matter to the customer, who purchased the new Saint Laurent with enthusiasm. Since then the resonance of Slimane + Saint Laurent has only grown.
With his latest runway, unfettered as he is by any slings, arrows or the weight of transition, Slimane presentation shows a growing confidence. Meanwhile his look has become the direction du jour and one many of his peers are now chasing. And it’s not like Slimane has ever been some downtrodden peasant, but still, a lot of establishment media folks were loudly rooting against him and its good to see someone whose vision was dismissed by the in crowd, stick to her or his guns under much duress, and in the final analysis emerge victorious.
