Could Hedi Slimane be leaving Saint Laurent? After the departure of Raf Simons from Dior and Alber Elbaz from Lanvin, it seems that YSL may be the next French brand without a creative director. Since Slimane took over in 2012, he’s changed the look of the house, more than doubled the brand’s revenue and, most famously, dropped Yves from the name—but rumors suggest that his reign may soon be coming to an end.
Since the beginning of the year there’s been speculation that he would leave YSL, especially as he and the Kering-owned fashion house have yet to reach a conclusion on the renewal of his initial contract. More recently, WWD reported that Saint Laurent has been in talks with Anthony Vaccarello to succeed Slimane at the label, though no announcements have been made as of yet. Vaccarello, a Belgian designer, is most well-known for his work as the creative director of Versace’s Versus brand.
If he does exit his position, it should have no bearing on the upcoming men’s and women’s F/W 2016 shows. Last week Saint Laurent announced that Slimane would show his men’s collection and the first part of his women’s line on February 10 in Los Angeles as a part of his Saint Laurent at the Palladium event. The second half of the women’s collection will be shown during its usual time in March at Paris Fashion Week.
