Fashion
Slimane has no formal training in fashion.[6] Early in his career, he worked for designer José Lévy.[8] From 1992 to 1995, he assisted fashion consultant and press agent Jean-Jacques Picart on the centenary project for the Louis Vuitton monogram canvas.[10]
Picart introduced Slimane to Pierre Bergé, who hired him in 1996 as ready-to-wear director of men's collections at Yves Saint Laurent.[6] Slimane later became artistic director. When he started, there were only a handful of men's designs at the house dating from Saint Laurent's early years.[6][8] One report describes his designs' sex appeal as "not based on over-the-top embellishment ... rather, it comes from the same honest principles that have always driven fashion: cut, proportion and silhouette."[8]
After the Black Tie collection for autumn-winter 2000–01, which introduced Slimane's signature silhouette and "skinny" aesthetic, he left YSL. He declined an offer of creative directorship at Jil Sander and accepted the position of creative director for menswear at Christian Dior. In June 2001, he oversaw the launch of Dior Homme's first fragrance under his creative control, named Higher.[11] He designed the packaging and worked with Richard Avedon on the advertising campaign.[12] In April 2002, Slimane became the first menswear designer to receive the CFDA award for International Designer.[13] David Bowie, whom Slimane dressed for his tours, presented the award.[14][15][16]
Brad Pitt had Slimane create his wedding suit for his marriage to Jennifer Aniston.[17] Although he never designed a womenswear collection, he dressed female celebrities including Madonna and Nicole Kidman during his tenure at Dior.[18] He also created stagewear for groups including the Libertines, Daft Punk, Franz Ferdinand, and the Kills, and artists including Mick Jagger, Beck, and Jack White.[19][20][21][22]
Slimane commissioned original soundtracks for his Dior Homme runway shows from artists including Beck, Readymade FC (Jean-Philippe Verdin), Phoenix, The Rakes, and Razorlight. The track "In the Morning" was composed by Razorlight for the Dior Homme show. Readymade FC composed "F Me" (2001–2002) and "Flexion" (2002–2003). These New Puritans composed "Navigate, Navigate" for the final Dior Homme show in January 2007.
In July 2007, Slimane did not renew his contract at Dior Homme. Discussions about funding Slimane's own label failed.[23] Slimane stated he did not want to lose control of his name and management of his own brand. He returned to fashion and portrait photography.
In March 2011, following John Galliano's dismissal from Dior, Slimane was linked with the creative director position.[12] In March 2012, Yves Saint Laurent and its parent company PPR announced that Slimane would replace Stefano Pilati as creative director.[24] He based his creative studio in Los Angeles rather than the brand's Paris headquarters. In April 2016, Anthony Vaccarello succeeded Slimane as creative director for Yves Saint Laurent.
In January 2018, LVMH announced that Slimane would become creative director at Céline. Under Slimane's direction, the brand dropped the French accent, becoming Celine.[25]
In April 2018, Slimane won more than €8 million in a lawsuit against Kering after he was paid €667,000 instead of €10 million for his non-compete clause.[26]
In January 2019, Slimane presented his first stand-alone menswear show for Celine.[27]
In July 2020, Slimane presented his men's spring-summer 2021 collection in a video shot at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France during confinement.[28][29] Beginning in 2021, he presented his collections outside the official Paris ready-to-wear calendar[30] in short film format,[31] filmed at locations including the Château de Chambord,[32] the Baie des Anges in Nice,[33] the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris,[34] the Wiltern in Los Angeles,[35]
On 26 June 2022, Slimane showed his spring-summer 2023 collection for Celine at the Palais de Tokyo, the same location where he presented his autumn-winter collection for Dior Homme twenty years earlier.[40] Published notes accompanying the show quote him as saying he "wanted to pay tribute to the institution and remember this moment in [his] menswear reform."[40]
In October 2024, he exited Celine.[4]
