Quotable: What Pierre Bergé thinks about Hedi Slimane
It’s no secret that Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent’s former partner and business advisor, adores Hedi Slimane. The mogul would famously exclude then-designer Stefano Pilati from YSL parties and invite Slimane in his place. Nevertheless, Bergé thinks Slimane’s got some big shoes to fill (on the scale of a Nobel Prize–winner, no less), telling T Magazine:
“It’s a great problem, very complicated, to recreate the work of a genius. Like trying to rewrite Faulkner. To put your stamp on the name of Yves Saint Laurent requires someone who has talent, conviction, rigor, a demanding nature and a great sense of colour.”
No need to worry, though. It seems Bergé is more than confident that Slimane has got the design chops for the job, telling Fashionista:
“I am very, very happy today to have Hedi Slimane because he is a great fashion designer and he has a great talent, a huge talent. I like him, he is a friend and he worked for Saint Laurent a long time ago and he’s a member of the family, of the YSL family. I’m very happy.”