Why Hedi Slimane is Having a Moment

A look at Hedi Slimane’s legacy and the return of indie sleaze.

When Hedi Slimane stopped by W Magazine’s Golden Globes party back in January, it was business as usual: a black leather jacket, black crew-neck sweater, skinny jeans, and pointed-toe black boots. You can find him in a nearly identical look at a Celine event in December 2022 (the jeans were darker) and taking a bow after the Celine Menswear show in June 2019 (the sweater was a V-neck). Though it’s a rare occasion for Slimane to pop up in a photo at all, when he does, over decades and through jobs across fashion’s top houses, it’s clear — he knows what he likes, and he sticks to it.

Though Slimane left Celine last year, his work, especially that of his time at Dior Homme, continues to be part of the cultural zeitgeist, with so-called “Hedi Boys” singularly seeking out his signature aesthetic (search inquiries on Grailed for “Hedi Slimane” were up 50% at points last year). Fashion trends tend to move in 20-year cycles, and with Slimane’s work at Dior now in that sweet spot, it’s no surprise that it's particularly relevant right now.

But, it’s about more than just timing. After years of maximalism and logo-mania, the harsh realities of modern times have left many in the fashion world seeking a wardrobe that reflects the way they feel—on edge. In the face of hyper-masculinity, Slimane offers something in contrast—a masculinity that’s cool with stepping away from the macho stereotypes, and a uniform built on rebellion. Those on the forefront of fashion have also started to pivot away from Demna’s stylistic codes–oversized silhouettes, distressed and deconstructed garments, hyper-realism–turning to the opposite end of the stylistic spectrum. As we see demand for Hedi Slimane’s pieces up nearly 25% since last year on Grailed, we explore Slimane’s most iconic moments and attempt to explain why he’s more relevant now more than ever.

Wave 1: The Sounds of Disruption at Dior Homme (2000-2007)

In 2001, Slimane joined Dior to oversee the men’s line, which he rebranded from Dior Monsieur to Dior Homme. From the beginning, Slimane’s work was deeply steeped in the culture of music, tied to both contemporary artists and the underground scenes of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Some of his most iconic early collections included F/W 2003 ‘Luster’ and S/S 2003 ‘Follow Me.’ Both are celebrated for completely reframing what modern masculinity could be, complete with silky shirting, long knotty hair and swipes of black eyeliner.

“What Hedi did with Dior wasn’t just about design,” says Hugh Mo of Artifact. “It was a shift. He changed how men dressed. He made tank tops under blazers a thing. He brought androgyny and punk to tailoring." That legacy — as Mo describes: "It wasn’t just skinny suits, it was rebellion” — is part of what makes his work archivable now, it was always about more than a trend, it was a challenge to the cultural norms. Slimane made skinny jeans, slouchy beanies and sharply-tailored blazers more than a look, it infused counterculture into menswear.

The style was even more visceral given its tie to music. Slimane became the designer du jour for the “indie sleaze” era’s most famous artists, dressing the likes of The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and The White Stripes. “Hedi has a deep, real connection to music. He’s not just referencing it—he lives it,” says Marlon Magnée of La Femme, a French psychedelic and surf rock band Slimane has photographed and collaborated with for his runway soundtracks. “That’s what makes it feel authentic. He can translate a song into a look, a sound into an image. It’s like alchemy.”

Though the legacy of the slick-yet-grungy attitude of the time would continue to have its devoted fans, by the time Slimane left Dior in 2007, culture was starting to shift again as both a preppy aesthetic and streetwear culture continued to take hold. Street style bloggers like Tommy Ton and Scott Schuman were also transforming the reach and purpose of personal style, ushering in a peacocking that opposed the sleek rebellion of Hedi’s work. Following creative differences at Dior and unwilling to compromise on his vision, he decamped to L.A. in 2008 and focused on his photography.

Wave 2: An LA Vibe Shift at Saint Laurent Paris (2012-2016)

When he finally arrived as creative director at Saint Laurent Paris in 2012, he dropped the Yves, stayed in LA and moved the atelier from Paris. Like he did at Dior, Slimane carved his niche from the beginning, reviving the brand on his terms and bringing his signature style to a heritage house. Where his early work was steeped in the culture of disruption, this new chapter approached his aesthetic through a more commercial lens.

Said differently, if Dior Homme was Slimane’s CBGB, Saint Laurent Paris (or, SLP, for short) was his Hollywood Bowl. While the spirit of Rock n’ Roll remained, the grunge of New York had been replaced by a fixation on the West Coast. Everything about Saint Laurent Paris was LA–surf rock, skateboarding culture, thrifting. And it worked, sales rose by hundreds of millions of dollars. “He was designing from LA, living a different reality, thinking about mass culture,” says Mo. “That’s why it landed."

Hedi Slimane’s first collection, F/W ‘13, was a smash and brought to life a new vision for the Hedi Boy. He was still in skinny jeans and boots, but this time with a swooping scarf and a flannel. In this era, Slimane introduced some of his most iconic pieces, the Wyatt Boots, the Teddy Jacket and the Santiag Boots. Slimane also produced luxury sneakers like the SL/10H. The designer sneaker is an idea so commonplace to us now, but still emergent in the mid-2010s, at least for menswear (let us not forget the Isabel Marant Bekett wedge sneakers).

It wasn’t that the aesthetic of his collections were commercial per se, it was that anyone could see themselves wearing them. “His direction is always super precise and sharp,” Magnée reflects, “That kind of intensity motivates you—you want to give 100% of yourself, to rise to the level of his art and push your own limits.” It was an obvious choice for the chicly disheveled rocker bumbling around on the Sunset strip, but it also resonated in the hip hop space: A$AP Rocky famously name-dropped SLP in his 2013 track “Fashion Killa,” Future has been known to be a fan of the F/W ‘15 Lambskin Zipper Pants and Travis Scott incorporated Slimane’s Saint Laurent Paris into his visuals for his 2015 album Rodeo. At this point, Slimane’s aesthetic not just a style, but a smart business opportunity.

Wave 3: Celine’s Hedi-ification & the Rise of Resale (2018-Now)

Perhaps most divisive was Slimane’s era at Celine, where again, he marked his territory early, removing the accent from the logomark. Stepping into the shoes of beloved designer Phoebe Philo, Slimane garnered immediate criticism over early collections, which lacked a connection to the brand’s DNA. New York Times critic Vanessa Friedman wrote at the time, “For those who, upon hearing that Mr. Slimane had been named Lord Chief Overseer (O.K.: artistic, creative and image director) of Celine, feared that the days when this brand defined what it meant to be a smart, adult, self-sufficient, ambitious and elegantly neurotic woman were at an end—you were right.” Introducing menswear to the brand, Slimane created new territory for the Hedi boy; Slimane seemed to use Celine as a mouthpiece for his own vision, rather than to reimagine the heritage of the brand itself.

Over time, Slimane managed to find a more sure footing during his tenure. While his work marked a stark departure from the more sartorial, high-minded work of Philo, over time the narrative of new Celine became more cohesive — Slimane’s signatures were unmissable, but you could still find the story of Celine somewhere within the Hedi touches. Still, for the OG Hedi Boys, the Celine era was a divisive one, whereas Slimane got older, his work felt divided from the attitude of rebellion that was so appealing in his early collections. The definition of defiance had shifted. Normies started embracing iconic styles like the Teddy Jacket, the Demna look descended onto Balenciaga and fashion moved onto a new visual system.

Though Slimane has yet to announce a new fashion gig post-Celine, interest in his work, especially that of his Dior Homme era is picking back up again — fueled by both a cultural shift nostalgic for his take on rebellion, and a reflection of the ways modern men want to dress again. The revival of indie sleaze through a new generation of young musical artists has helped to put Hedi’s work of the time back into the spotlight. Though not every fan is wearing head-to-toe Dior Homme, they’re referencing Slimane’s aesthetic of the time on TikTok, set to a synth-laced soundtrack and swapping cigarettes for vapes. They’re sleek yet rebellious, looking for their own uniforms to face what’s next.

We may have resale to thank for this. During Slimane’s days at Dior Homme in the early aughts, an interest in menswear was considered niche. The community was disparate, scattered, offline. Slimane’s success at Saint Laurent Paris could partially be attributed to the shift to living a life online–social media self expression, style forums, marketplaces like Grailed. Now, we shop now and then, NWT and archival, at the same time. So as we explore Celine from 2018, Dior Homme from 2005 is just a few clicks away. It’s only a matter of time. “We're sort of at a point where it’s been buried for so long and I think some of the Dior heads would probably love the opportunity to flex their knowledge and get deep into the scholarship again,” says Mo.