What Price Provocative? YSL's Stefano Pilati Gets Litigious
Stefano Pilati, Yves Saint Laurent's creative director, is pissed. Never one to shy away from airing his often provocative opinions, recently he's gotten sensitive -- and litigious. And the brand's owner, Gucci Group (GUCG), is left to do damage control.
Both he and YSL filed defamation suits against Guardian News & Media, Harris, the managing director of the Guardian newspapers, and the editor of The Observer, to the tune of over $200,000 each, plus legal costs.
Pilati is reacting to an article in the Guardian by Paul Harris -- the title pretty much says it all: "America's New Vogue for Black Fashion Is All Due to Michelle Obama." The Guardian piece reprinted a racially insensitive comment Pilati made to the Washington Post in 2007 -- one in which he criticized the proportions of African-American "fit models."
It's hard to say why the reprint triggered such a response from Pilati. He didn't take issue with the original interview despite the shellacking he took in the blogosphere at the time. Pilati has turned a critical eye towards everyone from his predecessor Tom Ford to male models and celebrity stylists. Call it a kind of equal opportunity.
Pilati has always been single-minded in his vision, even when it hasn't been popular (think the pre-2008 collections) and continues to push for innovation in both men's and women's fashion. In a sense, he's following in the loafered footsteps of the brand's namesake, who left the business with a parting jab, "I have nothing in common with this new world of fashion, which has been reduced to mere window-dressing. Elegance and beauty have been banished."
And whatever he may think of African-American fit models' shapes and sizes, he doesn't look at uncomfortable embracing a naked Naomi Campbell on the August 2008 cover of i-D Magazine.
The problem is that the YSL brand can hardly afford to have haters right now. The YSL brand was Gucci Group's biggest loser in 2009 with sales down nearly 10 percent. The multi-brand luxury goods company (a subsidiary of the PPR Group) reported this was due to a slowdown in traditional markets which make up 75 percent of YSL's revenue, yet was encouraged by Asian/Pacific growth as well as gains in leather and shoes.
The YSL/Pilati defamation suit is scheduled to come before a Parisian district court judge in June. Until then, YSL would do well to pump up the volume on the positives: the clothes. For Fall 2010, Pilati's wide legged pants and wrap dresses are flattering on a wide range of figures, and could trigger the return to relevance for everywoman this brand sorely needs.
Image via stylefrizz