“The Yves Saint Laurent revolution is the arrival of the perfecto on the runway.” These words could sum up the heritage that Slimane is a part of: making women love what others before them once adored. In 2007, Hedi Slimane left the creative direction of Dior Homme to immortalize, with his telltale black and white filter, his musical idols. Close to 15 years of archives are coming out today to tell the story of two generations of performers and their fans. Sonic is an exposition where intimately captured portraits and studio shots are displayed alongside heroic rock figures: Lou Reed and Brian Wilson bump elbows with the likes of Keith Richards and Amy Winehouse. There’s time for every legend, with every legend in their time.
For the first time, Hedi Slimane’s photos will set up at the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent; a snapshot of the London music scene (2003-2007) as well as that of California (2007-2014) seen through the lens of an iconoclast. A video installation will complete the installation. When he brought leather to the runway in the 60s, Yves Saint Laurent did much more than simply curtail the bourgeoisie; it was an entire fashion born on the margins that the genius was able to gather inspiration for the shots from. In photography or in fashion, Slimane seems to be seeking the same thing. Yves once said in his day: “What I want is to shock, to push people to reflect.”
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