A recent blogpost from High Snobiety tries to present a balanced argument about the whole Colette vs YSL (read as Colette vs Hedi Slimane) but somehow they only find writers to side with Colette (and call Hedi an asshole for talking back to Colette). I know blogposts aren’t supposed be balanced but maybe just call you entry -fuck you Hedi (again) instead of The Current State of the Parody T-Shirt. As a long time fan of Hedi Slimane, many people have asked me about my opinion on the parody shirt. And as a long time support of parody (and its political implications), you may find my answer surprising. I actually think this shirt is in bad taste. And it was in bad taste for Colette to sell it. Here’s why…
First off, Colette has been a long time supporter of the YSL brand – they have built a strong relationship and then they decide to sell a AIN’T SAINT WITHOUT YVES t shirt. One can easily say that Colette can sell whatever they want – agreed, they are in the business of making money. And in turn, YSL can decide not to work with them. I suppose if you want to teach someone a lesson, you hit them where it counts – Colette’s profits. But let’s look at this situation more crudely, it’s almost the equivalent of Grace Coddington showing up to a meeting at Vogue with a t-shirt that says ANNA’S A TALENTLESS BITCH. Harsh? Maybe. But that is basically what the ‘parody’ t-shirt of Saint Laurent suggest. Funny? I guess but it’s also just not nice. The fashion industry is cut throat enough, where few players play nice anymore.
Second, the whole idea of parody is problematic. Many of the authors that have come to the defense of Colette suggest that fashion is far too serious and we should allow for more humor. But I would argue, parody is a very specific type of humor. The origins of parody is to ridicule – language intended to humiliate or mock. So what brought on this desire to humiliate Hedi? His attempt to revitalize a fashion house that could have easily become insignificant with the passing of its founder? Do we think the designer who revolutionized DiorHomme and men’s fashion in general, was under qualified? Are we mad the he changed the name back to be closer to the original ready-to-wear brand Saint Laurent Rive Gauche? After all Yves Saint Laurent was the name for the haute couture collection – which no longer exists.
Third, the postmodern use of parody suggests it can also be a political tool to attack an institution (read Judith Butler, Gender Trouble). Some have suggested that this parody t-shirt is a tongue and cheek political commentary on the institution of luxury fashion. But the entire concept behind Ain’t Laurent with Yves is an attack on the person – Hedi Slimane not the brand.