As was observed, the rivalry between the
fashion houses of Christian Dior and
Yves Saint Laurent, who each presented collections by new designers, has spilled into the open and ended
Paris fashion week with an ugly slanging match.
With
tempers running high and long-held grudges made public, Hedi Slimane of
YSL now finds himself waging a public war, not against Raf Simons of
Christian Dior but against the fashion editor of the New York Times.
Dior
played their hand first in a contest that seemed initially both evenly
poised and tempered. The show garnered rave reviews. Writing in the
International Herald Tribune, the revered fashion editor Suzy Menkes
said "it was the roar that went up backstage behind the wafting pastel
curtains, echoing the clapping in the graceful interlocking salons, that
proved the designer Raf Simons had exceeded all expectations". Vogue
called it "a resounding success". The influential catwalk website
style.com dubbed it "a special kind of twenty-first century glamour".
 |
| Raf Simons of Christian Dior presented a face-net-and-glasses combo at Paris fashion week. Photograph: Francois Guillot |
But
a faint mood of fractiousness has emanated from the house of Yves Saint
Laurent since June, when Hedi Slimane dropped the 'Yves' from some
aspects of branding, giving clothes of his design (but not other items
such as perfume, or keyrings) the label Saint Laurent or Saint Laurent
Paris. At that time the house reacted angrily when the press, focusing
on the thrust of the story rather than the detail, suggested that the
move represented a break with the past. Slimane's spokespeople were at
pains to explain the move was intended to forge a direct connection with
the Saint Laurent Rive Gauche label set up by Yves himself in 1966.
The
height of the bar set by Christian Dior's show did nothing to lighten
the mood at YSL. In the run-up to Monday's show journalists were issued
with unusually strict instructions as to what behaviour would be
tolerated backstage. Photographs and questions, both of which are a
standard part of the informal debrief session that takes place after a
show, were banned.
YSL did not fare as well with the critics as
Dior. The floppy hats, sheer capes and frilled blouses were too close to
the YSL archives to please an industry on a perennial hunt for the new.
"Witchy seduction was the agenda of the evening. A bizarre way to stake
a claim to one of fashion's most unimpeachable legacies," was the
verdict from style.com. Womenswear Daily described the collection as
"costumey". (I felt it was "unmodified nostalgia" and "lacking in
relevance to the real world".)
The most hard-hitting review came
from Cathy Horyn, the longstanding fashion editor of the New York Times,
who had not been invited to the show. Her review, which described the
clothes as "nice but frozen", called attention to "the self-important
air of Saint Laurent's media relations" and claimed her ban was part of a
grudge held against her for an article eight years ago in which she
wrote that the game-changing skinny silhouette attributed to Slimane – a
look which made him a fashion demigod during a stint designing YSL
menswear – was conceived not by Slimane, but by Raf Simons.
It was
the latest thrust in a catwalk season that had been punchy even by the
feisty standards of Horyn, a globally respected critic whose tongue can
be harsh. Last month, after Horyn wrote that Oscar de la Renta was "more
of a hot dog than an éminence grise of American fashion", de la Renta
took out a full-page ad in Womenswear Daily comparing Horyn to "a
three-day old hamburger".
Less than 12 hours after Horyn's review
was published Hedi Slimane tweeted a riposte, describing Horyn as "a
schoolyard bully", and mocked her good relations with Christian Dior,
dubbing her "a publicist in disguise". When Horyn declined to comment on
the row, describing it as "silly nonsense", Slimane took to Twitter
again, calling her "an embarrassment for the newspaper". YSL declined to
comment, demurring that Slimane's Twitter page was a personal matter.
The
row has shone a harsh and unflattering light on the fashion industry.
What had seemed a gentlemanly rivalry between two designers whose design
synergy lent them a common purpose in modernising the Paris fashion
world is recast as a long-running grudge match. It also gives rare
insight into the delicacy of personal relationships in an industry where
personal chemistry, critical opinion and commercial considerations can
come into conflict.
The shakedown from a tumultuous week in Paris
has been complicated further by reports that retailers took a far more
positive view of the Saint Laurent show than critics. While reviews are
read straight away, the views of buyers often take several days to
filter into public view. A report in Womenswear Daily quoted many
important buyers warmly praising the collection.
Mark Lee of
influential New York store Barneys described "a unanimous and
spontaneous love from all the Barneys team members immediately following
the show", while Marigay McKee of Harrods pronounced it "perfect for
our customer". The feeling among many retailers is that this rendering
of a recognisable YSL look will make for a profitable season.
If the buyers' predictions are true then YSL, having looked to be on the ropes, may yet have the last laugh.
http://www.guardian.co.uk
