Words from Hedi Slimane

I GUESS THIS WEBSITE COULD BE MY OWN TRIBUNE. ENGLISH IS NOT MY NATURAL
LANGUAGE, BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD WRITE THIS MYSELF. HOPEFULLY IT WILL MAKE
SENSE TO SOME, AND STRAIGHTEN SOME IMPRECISE RECORDS. I WAS SILENT FOR A
LONG TIME. I OBSERVED WITH INTEREST HOW BLURRY AND TWISTED EVERYTHING
HAS BECOME. I ALMOST FEEL LIKE I’M A STRANGER TO ALL THIS, AND TOTALLY
RELIEVED IT HAS FINALLY COME OUT.

IN JULY 2000, ALMOST 7 YEARS AGO, I JOINED CHRISTIAN DIOR AND STARTED TO
DEFINE DIOR HOMME. I CAME FROM SAINT LAURENT. I WAS A LITTLE MISERABLE AND
SAD OF THIS SUDDEN EXODUS, BUT THE IDEA OF STARTING EX-NIHILO A DIFFERENT
MASCULINE PROJECT AT DIOR WAS APPEALING. I’VE ALWAYS FELT FOR THIS
BEAUTIFUL HOUSE.

I BELIEVED DIOR HOMME, NEWLY CREATED, COULD BE A HOLISTIC PROJECT.
THROUGH THE YEARS I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO COLLABORATE WITH SO MANY
CREATIVE MINDS AND DEVELOP A COMMON SENSIBILITY. I WANT TO THANK THEM
ALL FOR A REALLY FRUITFUL COLLABORATION. IT WAS A TIME CAPSULE—7 YEARS
OF PRODUCING MUSIC, BANDS, ARCHITECTURAL SPACES, ART PROJECTS, AND
DESIGN. I GUESS I WAS SOLELY INTERESTED IN THE TIME I WAS IN, LIVING IN
COMPLETE MOVEMENT.

I ALWAYS TRIED TO STAY FAITHFUL TO MY BELIEFS, AND THE IDEAS I WAS
PURSUING. I TRIED NOT TO GET DISTRACTED. I HAD A CERTAIN IDEA OF THE HOUSE
OF DIOR, WHICH I LOVE, AND TRIED TO EXPRESS IT THROUGH DIFFERENT MEDIUMS. IT
WON’T BE FOR ME TO JUDGE IF IT WAS OF ANY RELEVANCE. I WAS JUST TRYING
SOMETHING.

I CANNOT THANK MY TEAM ENOUGH, MY STUDIO, AND MY ATELIER, WITH WHOM I
BUILT DIOR HOMME. IN SOME WAYS I FEEL IT IS THEM I HAVE LEFT, AND I WOULD
HOPE THEY WILL UNDERSTAND. I WANT THEM TO KNOW I LOVE EACH ONE OF THEM.
THEY WERE ALWAYS BY MY SIDE, AND ME BY THEIRS. WE HELPED EACH OTHER
THROUGH THE PROCESS OF DESIGN AND THE EXPECTATIONS. I ASSUME WE HAD THE
BEST TIME TOGETHER DESIGNING ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IN THIS TINY STUDIO.

I ALSO WANT TO THANK ALL THE BOYS THAT DID MY SHOWS AND THOSE I
PHOTOGRAPHED, THE ONES I FOUND RANDOMLY AND ALL THE OTHERS. THEY HAVE
BEEN A STRONG INSPIRATION–IF NOT THE ONLY ONE–AND THE REASON WHY I
DESIGNED THE CLOTHES. I LIKED NOTHING MORE THAN SEEING THEM TAKING OVER
THE SHOWS AND MAKING THE CLOTHES THEIR OWN.

I WANT TO THANK ALL THE MUSICIANS I WORKED WITH, THE ONES I DRESSED, THE
ONES I PHOTOGRAPHED, AND THE ONES THAT COMPOSED MUSIC FOR ME. I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BIRTH OF THIS NEW SCENE, WHICH I GUESS HAD A LOT TO DO WITH THE SILHOUETTE I WAS TRYING TO CREATE. I ALWAYS HAVE THIS GENERATION IN MIND, AND I GUESS I’M STAYING BY ITS SIDE. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE BOYS AND GIRLS WHO FELT IT.

I WANT TO THANK ALL THE PEOPLE THAT MANUFACTURED MY DESIGNS
WITH SO MUCH CARE AND PRECISION, THE TEAMS THAT CARRIED THIS
PROJECT INTO STORES, AS WELL AS THE RETAILERS THAT SUPPORTED MY
COLLECTIONS.


I WANT TO THANK BERNARD ARNAULT, WHO TRUSTED ME WITH THIS PROJECT. I WAS
REALLY BLESSED TO BE ABLE TO DEVELOP IT. I HOPE HE WILL UNDERSTAND MY
POSITION AND DECISION, IF NOT NOW, THEN HOPEFULLY WITH SOME TIME.

CLOSE TO A YEAR AGO, MORE PRECISELY LAST JULY, AT THE END OF MY CONTRACT,
I FELT IT WAS TIME FOR ME TO MAKE A MAJOR CHANGE, AND LEAVE THE COMPANY.
I HAD ALREADY SET UP THE PRINCIPLES THAT COULD CONTINUE TO BE THERE FOR DIOR HOMME. AS FOR MY OWN STYLE AND AESTHETIC, I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO SEPARATE THE 2.

IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT A PROPOSAL CAME TO ME TO START A NEW HOUSE UNDER MY NAME IF I STAYED WITH DIOR HOMME.

I TRIED TO MAKE THINGS WORK FOR ABOUT A YEAR. HOWEVER, I HAD THE FEELING IT WAS NOT THE RIGHT PROJECT FOR ME. THERE ARE AREAS I WILL NOT COMPROMISE WITH AT ALL WHEN IT COMES TO MY WORK, AND SETTING UP A LABEL UNDER MY OWN NAME. I ALWAYS KEPT IN MIND THE PRECEDENCE OF SOME DESIGNERS I ADMIRE WHO WERE IN A SIMILAR SITUATION, AND CHOSE THE OTHER PATH. PERHAPS IN ANOTHER TIME IN MY LIFE, UNDER OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES, MY NAME, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF A COMPANY UNDER MY OWN LABEL WOULD BE CONSIDERED DIFFERENTLY. RIGHT NOW I FEEL IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO STAY TRUE TO MY PRINCIPLES, AND THE IDEA I HAVE OF FASHION.

I HAD NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO REFUSE THE KIND PROPOSITION THAT WAS MADE
AND TO DECLINE A NEW DIOR HOMME CONTRACT. I MADE THIS CLEAR JUST AFTER
MY LAST SHOW, THE SECOND WEEK OF FEBRUARY, AND LEFT FOR LOS ANGELES.
I DECIDED TO WALK AWAY FROM DIOR, AND MOVE ENTIRELY FORWARD.


7

YEARS WITH

AIR
ALAN RAKE
ALEX KAPRANOS
ALLISON MOSSHART
ANDREW AVELING
BECK, MARISSA, AND COSIMO HANSEN
BRANDON FLOWERS
BRIAN MOLKO
CARL BARAT
COURTNEY LOVE
DAFT PUNK
DAVID BOWIE
ELTON JOHN AND DAVID FURNISH
JACK WHITE
JAKE SHEARS
JOHNNY BORREL
MATTHEW BELLAMY
MICHAEL STIPE
MICK JAGGER AND L’WREN SCOTT
NEIL TENNANT AND CHRIS LOWE
PAUL SIMONON
PETE DOHERTY
PHIL BUSH
PHOENIX
THESE NEW PURITANS
TOM PADDINGTON
8 LEGS

ANDREAS GURSKY
BANKS VIOLETTE
DANIEL ARSHAM
DICK EVANS
DOUG AITKEN
CARSTEN HOLLER
MUNTEAN AND ROSENBLUM
UGO RONDINONE
PAUL P.
PIERRE HUYGUE
THOMAS DEMAND

DAVID LYNCH
DAVID SIMS
INEZ VAN LANSWEERDE AND VINOODH MATADIN
GUS VAN SANT
BRUCE WEBER
IN MEMORY OF RICHARD AVEDON
WHO DID MY FIRST PICTURE

(source: www.hedislimane.com)