Thursday, March 7, 2013

grunge isn't dead, yet


So I see that Hedi Slimane got bashed hard lately? Right now I am wearing a cheap black goat leather jacket and typing some words to his defense. Yves Saint Laurent was undoubtedly one of the greatest fashion designers of all time and the house of ysl is a legacy to be protected. But how does that interfere with Hedi Slimane's designs? Have any of you looked close enough?

"Yves Saint Laurent was obsessed with the youth and so is Hedi Slimane.", a comment I read on Style.com that I feel the strong need to agree with. YSL is not THE fashion house representing the core value of French elegance, it has rather been Dior and Chanel and ________ (please insert any other brand that comes to your mind at the current moment). Yves was an uncommon designer, a ground-breaking one, a provocative one. He made a dress straight from a painting, he decided women can wear a tuxedo, even his perfume screams perversity: OPIUM! Now that's what I call scandalous.

Yes, you might find a decent over-sized flannel shirt even at Hennes&Mauritz, but it is the true rebellious fashion spirit that you can only find at Hedi Slimane's designs. What is the real difference between high fashion and fast fashion? Nowadays the differences are getting smaller aren't they? When Zara is continuously pushing its studio lines with wannabe-clean cuts and Saint Laurent Paris is doing the aforementioned flannel shirt, you'll start fearing something. What you should know is that not only do the fabric quality matter, but also the inspiration behind the fashion. A shirt that was made with a youthful spirit and a shirt that tries to imitate the spirit are two not so identical shirts. Bear in mind that fashion is about showcasing personality and practicality and should reflect our current world in some kind of way. Hedi Slimane's fw2013 collection for SLP had all the points fulfilled. 

At the end of the day, "high" fashion really doesn't only stand for crazy chiffon Christmas trees we've seen at Alexander McQueen's under Sarah Burton's reign, the word "high" rather stands for the effort, the inspirational thoughts, the emotions, the time a designer puts in his designs and at SLP I felt the Hedi's input.

Seriously though, here are the looks that I love:

(all images above from the internet)