bckbld: SAINT LAURENT PARIS

When i heard that Hedi Slimane was to become the creative director at Yves Saint Laurent I was beyond excited. I had been following Hedi Slimane for a while as I'd first fell in love with his photography at college whilst studying fine art photography. He's got a very distinctive way of shooting, almost raw, original and atmospheric, moody shots. He does a mix of everything really, from fashion to music, including the likes of Miles Kane, Arctic Monkeys, Pete Doherty, Amy Winehouse, Courtney Love and Kate Moss, which is everything i love.

Miles Kane

Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys

Peter Doherty

Amy Winehouse

Anyway, back to Yves Saint Laurent. First things first, he changed the name causing massive controversy in the fashion world, to Saint Laurent Paris - heralding the birth of a new, young and effortlessly cool brand. The brand screams Slimane, so arty and atmospheric. People were a bit sceptical about Hedi Slimane taking over such an iconic brand as YSL but i think he's done the brand wonders, the collections are new and fresh and have opened up the brand to a whole new audience.

Hedi shoots the campaigns for SLP, meaning the shots are arty, different and edgy, putting his own stamp on the brand. The middle two shots, are actually a female model, modelling the menswear collection - kind of unheard of in the fashion world but completely genius.

The two latest faces of Saint Laurent Paris, who I absolutely adore and admire Hedi for taking the risk, are Marilyn Manson (a guilty pleasure of mine, my dad and I listened to him a lot when i was growing up) and Courtney Love (anyone associated to Kurt Cobain is perfect). They add to the rock, edgy, punky factor of the brand. A brand that mixes music, art and fashion is amazing in my books.