Whilst the collection had extremely wearable pieces – a clearly unavoidable and recurring variable of Slimane’s restructuring of the Saint Laurent DNA, which is obviously extremely beneficial for sales and the consumers – there was a lacking of any true inspiration. A typical palette for the autumn season, the styling and pieces were a mesh of New York hipster downtown chic, and bohemian L.A. student, something Slimane is quickly attempting to establish at the brand. Indeed, whilst his womenswear garnered a positive reaction from buyers, it seems that Slimane is showing the world his excellence in menswear. The pieces were wearable and could fit in to any man’s wardrobe; however, it calls in to question the inevitable price range. Either way, this is one collection that may prove popular with a plethora of buyers. And maybe that’s what’s needed.

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We’ll start off with Raf Simmons, who left Jil Sander and moved on over to Dior. Stefano Pilati was out at Yves Saint Laurent and Hedi Slimane took his place. Then there was all that drama surrounding the name of the fashion house, that was fun. Quickly following, Betsey Johnson filled for bankruptcy and Simon Spurr left Simon Spurr, awkward. Over in London, JW Anderson designed for the masses with Topshop, cute for him. Alexander Wang was slammed with a sweatshop case, and then it was thrown out of court. In the campaign world, Mila Kunis was the new face of Lady Dior, and then Jennifer Lawrence quickly stole that throne in a real life version of the Hunger Games. In the journalism world, Cathy Horyn of The New York Times called Oscar de la Renta a “hotdog,” he took out an ad in WWD. Hedi then jumped into that fight after she wasn’t invited to his first show at Saint Laurent Paris. Finally, Nicolas Ghesquière left Balenciaga and Alexander Wang took his place, which was surprising to everyone.

There you have it. As your trusty fashion news source, it has been my pleasure keeping you informed all year. I’m looking forward to keeping you all informed in 2013. Happy holidays!

The campaign was shot by Hedi himself and stars Julia Nobis, for Part 1, and Edie Capmbell, for Part 2. Click through to look at the Part 1 starting Julia Nobis. The wide-brimmed hats, that were so famous from his first collection, are the unsung heroes of the campaign. You’ll also get a sneak peak at Edie Campbell for Part 2 and we’ll be sure to share those images with you as soon as they’re released.

Check out more Spring/Summer 2013 campaigns here!

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About an hour or so ago, Hedi responded to Cathy in a tweet. The tweet was titled “MY OWN TIMES /  MISS CATHY / FREEDOM  OF THE PRESS,” and it went a little something like this:

“Miss Horyn is a schoolyard bully and also a little bit of a stand-up comedian.Insiders argue she is an average writer, and a bit provincial,but I disagree, she did some great things.Her biggest achievement so far is a book about Bill Blass, that I haven’t read. It might be terrific, and I’ll be happy to recommend it, if it helps the sales.

I also ofter hear that her sense of style is seriously challenged, providing that she is meant to be an authority in the village. This is totally irrelevant, no one has ever asked for her to be an inspiration to others after all, and likely it would never happen anyway.

Besides, and amusingly, her agenda is seriously thick and perfectly predictable. She is a woman on a mission, and this season she is on fire.

Miss Horyn also works for the New York Times, as everyone knows, where conflicts of interest might seem a little out of place and where being partial, or too friendly with the locals might not be an option.

In conclusion, and as far as I’m concerned, she will never get a seat at Saint Laurent, but might get 2 for 1 at Dior. She should rejoice. I don’t mind critics, but they have to come from a fashion critic, not a publicist in disguise. I am quite mesmerized she did get away with it for so many years.

Any by the way come to visit our new website at ysl.com.

Sincerely Yours,”

What do you think? A little crazy, right? Horyn has received a lot of heat this season! Personally, I respect Cathy Horyn. She may be a little harsh, but isn’t that what a critic is supposed to do?

The show was grasped by the usual suspects of a Yves Saint Laurent – ooh, er, sorry, Saint Laurent Paris – collection, including fitted jackets and pants, strong yet feminine silhouettes, and of course, the ever trusty stiletto – a “tribute to the Tribute”, as Alexander Fury so wittily stated. But that’s where everything begins to go, well, a little bit south – Southern California, Los Angeles to be exact. Indeed, Slimane’s move of the design studio from its rooted home of Paris to the City of Angels was truly shining through throughout the entire collection, something that many had speculated before, and chastised after. Pussy bow blouses in sheers, floppy hats, flowing dresses, skirts and gowns, with the much needed detailing such as glittering embellishments and leather galore, dominated the runway, in an attempt to bring back the era of boho-chic and Coachella-easy that was so embraced by Sienna Miller and Kate Moss in the late noughties. The bad news? It didn’t work out as well as Slimane may have hoped.

Whilst the technical skills and thought were indeed there – a new era of the Yves Saint Laurent brand in the form of a rebranding of the RTW and stores would only signify a similar change that would catapult the brand in to mega superstardom – it seems that the execution was not. Whilst the attempt was made to reach an unparalleled boho-easy-chic look to revolutionize the way we thought about the brand after Stefano Pilati’s tenure at the maison – which was signified by sharp shoulders, a focus on impeccable tailoring, and of course, SEX! – it seems that the collection fell short of this, and ended up as a Stevie Nicks/Rachel Zoe love child. And though the collection seemed to act as an homage to the brand’s namesake designs during the free-spirited 1970s, which of course, further supports Slimane’s efforts to bring the brand back to its roots of yesteryear, it seemed contrived. And though the execution of his look back in time was indeed successful – wide brimmed hats, flowing fabrics, and the ever chic cape all screamed the then ‘look’ – it seemed to get lost in translation.

If one was to turn back the clock, and regard Slimane’s appointment, one might have considered it to be a new, exciting move for the Yves Saint Laurent family – an exciting, austere, minimalistic, yet somewhat California grunge chic, would have been on the minds of the global fashion powerhouses. But for his debut collection, it seems that his approach was definitely not what many were expecting. Perhaps many need more time to process, but the collection felt it would be Taylor Swift’s wardrobe if she went goth – but Taylor Swift goth, not ‘goth’ goth. One thing’s for certain, however, for Saint Laurent Paris, this is only a stepping stone, and it can only go up from here.

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The new campaign will also include “Saint Laurent Vermeil”, a classic and modernist unisex collection of silver and gold jewelry designed by Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent.

Cartier released a magical commercial featuring one chic jaguar.

Alexander Wang has been accused of operating a sweatshop.

Hedi Slimane has been named the new creative director of YSL.

We partied with Brad Goreski, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen.

Joseph Abboud got technical and Vera Wang made the move into menswear.

Stefano Pilati, who presented his last collection for YSL on Monday, has been with the fashion house since 2004. Well, it’s basically a game of musical chairs as Hedi will be going right back to where his career began. He originally started as men’s wear director in 1996 and was there until 2000.

Well Hedi, we couldn’t be happier for you and we look forward to seeing what you can do at YSL.

Andrej Pejic could be heading to the big screen.

We found Karlie, and Agyness came clean.

Dior launched their own magazine this week, known as DiorMag, groundbreaking.

Jil Sander is going back to Jil Sander, yet again. Also, Raf Simmons for Dior? Or could it be Hedi Slimane?

The whole world is apparently going to be designing for Dior,especially now that reports have come out that Haider Ackerman could take the position. Christopher Kane shut down those rumors.

It looks to us as though the Raf-Sander Transition of 2012, which we have come to name it, has sparked a fire under another fashion house. Reports are coming out on WWD that Hedi Slimane will be returning to YSL, the house where his career took off in 1996. PPR, the parent company of YSL, has yet to make a comment. We’ve also learned that Stefano Pilati, current creative director of YSL, contract is coming to an end in the coming month.

It is confirmed that Stefano Pilati will be leaving YSL following their show on March 5th. Pilati has released the following statement to WWD this morning “I exit the house with fierce conviction in all that we have achieved and deep gratitude to those who have supported me along the way,” he added. “I wish the maison Yves Saint Laurent and its new creative director the very best for the future.” The pot only thickens on the open spot at Dior — could it be Raf? Pilati? Someone unknown?