Hedi Slimane

Hedi Slimane is a French photographer and creative director. Born in Paris to an Italian mother and Tunisian father, Slimane grew up with fashion around him. After starting his career in photography, PR and as an assistant designer, Slimane was surprisingly appointed as the ready-to-wear director of men's collections at Yves Saint Laurent in 1996 by Pierre Bergé. Despite not having formal fashion schooling, Slimane had massive successes at YSL. His "Black Tie" collection for Fall/Winter 2000 caused a revolution in the fashion world, reintroducing skinny men's silhouettes. After a fallout with Gucci's Tom Ford, Slimane left YSL for Dior, where he continued his slim signature and helped popularize the skinny jeans. Slimane rejoined Yves Saint Laurent in 2012 as creative director, where he was part of the controversial decision to drop the "Yves" part of the Saint Laurent branding. Slimane joined Celine in 2018 and introduced the brand's first menswear collection in 2019.