Celebrity Birthdays: Hedi Slimane

Amy by Hedi Slimane, July 2007

I was incredibly sad to hear about the tragic passing of Amy Winehouse such a huge talent but such troubled soul. I remember seeing a picture of her when she released Frank, looking all vampy and buxom yet still somewhat fresh faced and thought she looked like a real style icon in the making.

And it was so - many magazines emulated her style (see below), a mix of rockabilly, vamp and 50's rock chick. In 2007, Karl Lagerfeld said of Amy:“She is a style icon. She is a beautiful, gifted artist. And I very much like her hairdo. I took it as an inspiration. Because, in fact, it was also Brigitte Bardot’s hairdo in the late Fifties and Sixties. And now Amy has made it her own style. So, when I saw her, I knew it was the right moment. Amy…she is the new Brigitte.”

Isabelli Fontana as Amy by Peter Lindbergh for Vogue France 2008

Faux Amy by Ellen Von Unwerth for Candy Magazine, 2010

Adrian Lima as Amy for LOVE magazine

Numero Magazine faux Amy, 2007

When I heard 2006's Mark Ronson-produced Back to Black, as everyone else, I couldn't believe that this soulful powerhouse of a voice was coming out of such a little body. A voice that Russell Brand describes in his brilliantly insightful yet moving tribute as "A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. " You Know I'm No Good is one of my favorite songs. When Amy worked with and modeled for Fred Perry last year I was heartened to see her looking healthy and happy, seemingly beginning to escape the vice grip of her demons and addiction.

Amy for Fred Perry Collection, 2010

She was so excited to be involved in the collection. These excerpts are taken from her interview with Harper's Bazaar, with accompanying photo shoot by Bryan Adams (yes, Bryan 'Everything I do for You' Adams - who is a pretty great photographer). She spoke to Harper's Bazaar about the collaboration, below.

Amy Winehouse by Bryan Adams

"I knew exactly what I wanted. And I love Fred Perry so much. I was honored that they would even, like, 'Do you want to come and do a line?' Me? Like, me?" She stabs a finger into her chest. "Yeah!" she adds...

Okay. Do you consider yourself a style icon?

"A style, like, what?"

A style icon, I repeat.

"Style, like ... ?"

Icon!

"No, of course not!"

But you are! People have altered the way they look as a consequence of your look. Tattoos have gained new currency; heavy eyeliner is widely imitated.

"Uh-huh. I don't think that's true. I just dress like ... I'm an old black man. Sorry!" she says. "Like I'm an old Jewish black man. I just dress like it's still the '50s."

Fred Perry Collection, October 2010

Sadly, the interview closed with this question: "And do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?

"Nope!" she says. "If I died tomorrow, I would be a happy girl."

Hedi Slimane, July2007

Rest in Peace Amy.

Chris Wetmore by Hedi Slimane

Hedi Slimane (pronounced Hedi Slim-aahn) is an amazing designer and photographer. He was born in Paris in 1968 to an Italian mother and Tunisian father who was a lightweight boxer. His mother was a seamstress and as a child, he would fall asleep on swathes of fabric as he watched her work. He went on to study Art History (same as me).

"Fashion = music + youth + sex.

This is what my menswear and my style were always about."

"When he was six, his sister's best friend used to entertain him with her impressions of David Bowie and Mick Jagger. Slimane got hold of Bowie's 1974 album David Live. The cover features the androgynous, skin-and-bones singer in an angular, narrow, cropped suit. Next he bought Angie by the Rolling Stones and a Vegas-period Elvis single, both with similarly dramatic covers. Stagewear became synonymous with menswear. "It was the only connection I knew with men's representation, even masculinity. David Bowie, for me, was the butchest guy in town. Jagger was like a truck driver." Thirty-odd years later Slimane designed stagewear for both.” The Guardian.

He worked an as assistant to Jean-Jacques Picard and in 1997 he was handpicked by Pierre Bergé to be Artistic Director of the Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche men's line.

Throughout the late 90's and the noughties, Hedi created a new zeitgeist for mens' fashion. Skinny was in. Hedi's insouciant, super-skinny suits with a rock & roll edge fast became a firm favourite with the glitterati including David Bowie, Jude Law (seen here in Dior ad directed by Guy Ritchie), Jamie Hince, David Beckham, Slash, Kings of Leon, Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt, who wore a Slimane designed suit to his wedding to Jennifer Aniston.

Beckham in Dior Homme

Karl Lagerfeld is rarely out of Slimane designs - the inspiration for his dramatic weight loss was to fit into Hedi’s skinny designs. "I never suffered from being overweight. At the time, oversized Japanese fashion was all the rage. Call me a fashion victim, but when the pendulum swung back to skinny-fits I simply shrunk to follow the trend. I lost 200 pounds to wear suits by Hedi Slimane."

The androgynous cut of the suits made fans also of women such as Nicole Kidman, Linda Evangelista, Sharon Stone, Carine Roitfeld, Courtney Love, Sarah Jessica Parker, Helena Christensen, and Madonna. In 2000, he was appointed Creative Director for Dior Homme.

Dior Homme

Hedi with Helena Christensen

Nicole Kidman in Dior Homme

Victoria Beckham copies Slimane-style in Gucci suit & Dior Homme tie

During his time at Dior Couture the company reported an increase in profits in 2002, despite a poor world economy. In September 2001, he was awarded the Man of the Year Award for emerging talent by the American GQ.

Agyness Deyn in Henry Holland slogan Tee

Dior Homme 2005-2006

"Slimane is said to have transformed the male silhouette. He produced jackets that were cut short, with narrow, square shoulders, and teamed them with very skinny trousers – exquisitely made, super-tight tailoring that was designed with rock stars in mind, but was greeted with so many standing ovations on the catwalk he is proud to have documented the British music scene at an exciting time. ..And his passion for Pete Doherty remains undiminished. "I think he had a huge influence on youth, globally. His way of doing things was really romantic." He didn't mind that Doherty was off his head all the time His design work is best for the moment because is the most right for the moment" The Guardian

Pete Doherty

Hedi has said his designs come from his head, when he listens to a song and will design a whole collection around it. “I think about the characters, the allure, the walk, the proportion, the hair – it just makes sense from one song." Slimane's rock & roll style was shaped by musicians such as Patti Smith, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie & Ziggy Stardust and later Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Pulp, Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, The Drums, Phoenix, Kings Of Leon and Pete Doherty. "There is no fashion without music. Marie Antoinette knew better when she fetched Gluck to Versailles, to try her new wardrobe on the dance floor. Nothing will ever change. Fashion = music + youth + sex. This is what my menswear and my style were always about."

Razorlight

Franz Ferdinand

In an interview earlier this year in Womens’ Wear Daily, Hedi slammed designers for cheapening their clothes by rolling them out onto red carpets. “The unfortunate outcome (of blogging and social networking) might be the obsession and collusion between the celebrity culture and high fashion. It is just a big global mess of random endorsement. Nothing looks worse than a dress or a suit on a red carpet. It is an ongoing tragedy of cheap fashion on cheap celebrities, followed by ubercheap comments.” Hedi has now turned to photography and has an amazing eye, as the photos below attest. His photography is monochromatic, smouldering, sexy, androgynous and edgy - like his designs. "I like well-made, authentic clothes, well-crafted tailoring" he said. "I also like the dream and fantasy of luxury, the exception and rarity of it. I have no interest at all in fast retail. It is ambiguous." Here are a few of my of favourite images by Hedi Slimane.