Hedi Slimane has been named the creative director of Yves Saint Laurent following Stefano Pilati’s departure and Gucci chief Frida Giannini has designed a special range of clothing for Charlotte Casiraghi.
The former Dior Homme designer will assume total responsibility for the French brand’s image and all of its collections following the departure of Stefano Pilati from his leadership of the company.
Paul Deneve, Chief Executive Officer of Yves Saint Laurent, said Hedi was the perfect person for the job.
“Hedi Slimane’s exceptional talent and understanding of the spirit of Yves Saint Laurent heralds a promising new chapter in the story of the maison.”
Francois Henri Pinault, CEO of parent company PPR, added, “As one of the most important French fashion houses, Yves Saint Laurent today possesses formidable potential, which I am confident will be successfully harnessed and revealed through the vision of Hedi Slimane.”
Alongside his position, Hedi will be allowed to continue working on his passion for photography. He recently released a retrospective book of photographic work called ‘Anthology of a Decade’.
The Monaco royal was recently named as the new face of the Italian fashion house and its creative director was keen to pay homage to Charlotte’s equestrian roots with a new range of clothes.
Charlotte told WWD, “It was very inspiring for me to work with Frida, who is very passionate about horse-riding, and the brand being strongly linked to that environment. We wanted it to be something really natural and strong, not just something commercial.”
Frida added, “Charlotte represents one of the most modern, sophisticated girls of today. We really share the passion of horses. We wanted to celebrate the icons of the house, so starting from the equestrian world was perfect.”
Charlotte will feature in a series of campaigns for the house over a two-year period.
PPR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer François-Henri Pinault said, “It is a new image and presentation of the brand through Charlotte.”
