after months of negotiations and speculation, hedi slimane is in fact leaving dior homme, wwd is reporting. lvmh is also close to naming kris van assche, who worked alongside slimane before starting his own line in 2005, the new designer of the line. it’s also unknown if van assche plans to only design for dior homme, or continue with his signature label, which recently branched out into womenswear.
according to the article, dior is anxious to move on from the slimane look, and they had grown tired of slimane’s demands to have total control of the house. his departure also puts the kabosh on his plans to start his own label backed by lvmh.
it will be interesting to see where slimane lands now, if he returns to ysl, which he left after the arrival of tom ford, or if he starts his own line. slimane has developed a cult like following–karl lagerfeld famously shed almost 90 pounds to fit into dior homme suits, and women like linda evangelista, nicole kidman, and cate blanchett as clients. needless to say, many people will be anxious to see, and get their hands on the last bits of slimane pieces for dior homme.
