Like fellow Dior alum Raf Simons, Hedi Slimane is one of those inimitable designers whose movements we stalk with cat-like precision. Since vacating his role as creative and image director of Saint Laurent back in March, we haven’t heard much from the scene-making, divisive figure — aside from the occasional Twitter rant and some ill-founded rumors of an eponymous fashion line.
Until now. In Wednesday’s New York Times, the master of rebranding revealed he is now devoting himself to photography full time. His most recent series, entitled a “New York Diary,” appears in the latest issue of V Magazine (the same one Kendall Jenner got tatted for). For the project, Slimane, a fan of black-and-white portraiture, shot New York’s “esoteric illuminati” — Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore, Italian-born artist Francesco Clemente, No Wave icons James Chance and Lydia Lunch and up-and-coming pop rock band The Lemon Twigs, to name a few. Slimane will continue to feature in V, shadowing and shooting Paris-, New York- and Los Angeles-based musicians, writers, comedians and artists for the ongoing project.
Thurston Moore, from Slimane’s “New York Diary” in V Magazine; Image: Hedi Slimane
Slimane’s love affair with the lens is no secret. During his tenure at Saint Laurent, Slimane shot all of the label’s campaigns and his photographic blog Hedi Slimane Diary has been a source of Tumblr gold since its 2006 inception.
Of the connection between his photographs and his design work, Slimane commented, “They are really different and clearly separate disciplines. Sincerity and authenticity in design are equally important. I consistently tried to preserve them, no matter what it takes, and avoid a certain contrived formality, which is an established convention in modern design.”
Still, he’s by no means retiring from design. “Naturally, photography will always be there, however I never intended to stop designing,” Slimane told the Times. “I never said I will stop designing in the future.”
[ via the The New York Times ]
