Creative, Artistic and Image Director for Celine since 2018, Hedi Slimane is like Los Angeles where Boris Karloff and Greta Garbo meet. Occasionally, rumors may circulate on online fashion forums that he was spotted browsing vintage t-shirts at his Rose Bowl Free market. Other times, Art He is obsessed with the story of a guest at his dinner party who allegedly visited Freeze in Los Angeles. The only clue as to what Slimane is up to? Diary of Hedi Suliman, a compendium of portraits he has maintained on his website for over a decade. , shows grumpy kids with gritty-edged features. (For this once-Tumblr teen, shredding and pinning thrift store T-shirts in the tundra of a suburban mall was bible.)

Now model Kaia Gerber, from Malibu and a close friend of Slimane’s, has joined the army of diary subjects. “What I love about him is that he’s like me,” Garber said in an interview. “He’s got a uniform and he’s just wearing it.” He sat Garber and her brother Presley down and never took a picture. “It was a spur of the moment. do you want to do this??” is that so! “Having someone in your house means Hedy is probably one of the only people I would want to.”

Of course he played some great music—electric mudSince then, Gerber was basically by Muddy Waters, who I’ve listened to on repeat, and “the hair and makeup were so easy,” she says. “He’s such a genius. He knows what he wants. There’s so much he can do in one day, and he takes long breaks in the middle. Hmm.”

What makes Diary images so unique as an artistic project is that most fashion and fashion-related images evoke fantasy and pretend play. Slimane’s imagery is about the life he and his entourage actually live. Gerber talked about creating a form of intimacy that I think the two “must have to exist to create an image like this.” I think the reason I shot is because he really creates a feeling of intimacy that’s very hard to come by when you’re surrounded by a lot of people,” she laughs. “It’s a really beautiful setting all around,” she adds. Even Gerber and Slimane’s dogs were hanging out. (Sliman’s dog’s name is Elvis. It has beautiful hair. Of course your dog will have beautiful hair! ”)

Gerber also wonders if the power of Slimane’s photography lies in him designing clothes. When Fashion rarely (if ever) takes pictures. “His attention to detail is something I’ve never seen before,” Garber says. “All the bracelets, all the earrings, he has eyes like that. He forgets nothing.” He tweaks his hair and jewelry while you shoot is it? Yes: “He’s a perfectionist at it’s finest.”

The photos also have an unhurried, distinctly California vibe.Those who claim today that LA is not a fashion capital are simply missing the point (Robert Altman’s long goodbye, sweaty suits, ex-influencers doing naked yoga, hippie housewives from Malibu, all the best fashion movies I’ve ever seen). “Usually the location we shoot is in the south of France,” he says Gerber. “It was so cool to meet him in my hometown.” He knows Malibu like the back of her hand, she added. “It’s insane. Like the smoothie shop my brother had his first job at, he knew perfectly.

Slimane sees Los Angeles, and particularly Gerber’s native Malibu, as a subculture of style, which he infused into his clothes. It’s almost like a gesture that only locals perceive as local, but it might show up in the wardrobe of any cool person in Seoul or Tokyo. Or London or New York. “I’ll go somewhere and probably notice influences that I didn’t notice before,” Garber says. “I think he was always drawn to surf culture. You see a lot of that in his collections and clothes. the legend of heady, like he might be somewhere in Malibu and cast you. There are people in my high school who he used to photograph in a very similar way. [own] Clothing that captures that culture. ‘ Malibu isn’t known as a fashion capital, but its style influence is immense under Slimane’s reins at Celine. “It’s not appreciated in that sense. And I think Hedi really made it a fashion thing like a cultural moment.”

Sometimes Gerber watches his show and thinks: And I, hold on! That’s what the kids at my school wore! But the way he does it makes you look at it in a completely different light and appreciate it. ”

The two became friends about two years ago. Meanwhile, the pandemic brought the fashion world to a standstill, and Slimane entered a creative golden age with fashion films. (You might say that TikTok revolutionized Celine’s menswear, and Gerber did the same for womenswear.) Now, Gerber wears Celine almost every day, but she was early on to follow up. I remember thinking like (She’s not the only one. Countless fashion designers have raved about me, from Nicolas Ghesquière to Jonathan Anderson. How nice Slimane does. ) “I think it’s because being simple and cool is one of the hardest things for him to do,” Gerber recalls. “And he’s got it all the way to the T.”

“He also gives his best in everything,” she continues. “He takes something and turns it into the best possible thing.” Perfect blue jeans, perfect leather jacket. “He’s always good at making things better. Maybe that’s the French part of him.”

“I really like that you only need 1 Jean – it’s your jeans. Or that one jacket. I have this Celine leather blazer. If you’ve seen a photo of me from last year, you’re probably wearing it. That’s how I like to dress myself. If I find something I like, I want to wear it all the time. I think that’s why I love Hedi so much. “

But what are these two lithe fashion fanatics really talking about? , furniture and everything else.He’s very knowledgeable.He’s the person so he’s pretty intimidating at first but really, he’s very kind and he’s a great guy and he’s really smart. Most of the time I’m the only one who asks him questions because I want to know everything about how his mind works.”

Slimane’s taste peculiarity, his notoriously strict nature, also made an impression on Gerber. [thinking]I’m asking myself, “Oh, I like that.” why do i like it I think someone knows the answer. And most of us cannot answer that question. I think working with him really taught me what I like about things, why I like them, and why I am drawn to them. ” Far.