Last week, news broke that Hedi Slimane was going to court with Saint Laurent parent company Kering regarding his non-compete clause. That would be the standard-issue clause baked into any contract that involves a big-time fashion house hiring a new creative director or high-ranking executive. It essentially ensures that if said designer or CEO type should exit said company, he or she cannot work for another label for a set amount of time (usually one year). Only in Slimane’s case, he wasn’t going to court to get out of his non-compete clause. Rather, he was fighting to have it reinstated. Sound weird? It kind of is. Apparently when Slimane exited Yves Saint Laurent back in April after turning it into one of the world’s most in-demand brands, Kering says it lifted the designer’s non-compete agreement. It was a move that essentially allowed the talented Slimane to consult or take up another lead design position immediately, a golden ticket to any designer trying to change jobs. But Slimane isn’t just any designer. Read more at GQ.
