Saint Laurent Gets Soulful

Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane has a healthy infatuation with rock stars and, in line with his profession, with dressing them. Slimane popularized the razor-sharp skinny suit silhouette on the likes of Pete Doherty during his tenure at Dior Homme in the early aughts, and created onstage looks for rock maestros Mick Jagger and David Bowie. Over the past 10 years, the designer has also chronicled a roster of rock’s legends and up-and-coming talents in his online photojournal, Rock Diary.

Slimane brought his rock-‘n’-roll sensibility to Saint Laurent when he revamped the Parisian brand in 2012. The Saint Laurent Music Project, Slimane’s ever-growing portraiture campaign, launched with former Girls frontman Christopher Owens and has featured Courtney Love, Kim Gordon, and Marilyn Manson, self-styled in Saint Laurent designs. Today, the project debuts its latest subject: Atlanta-based guitarist, singer, and songwriter Curtis Harding.

Slimane, who met Harding in L.A. this past October and first photographed him at the Growlers Compound in Orange County, was tapped by the soulful indie rock musician to not only shoot the cover for his upcoming album, but also to capture a clip of the album’s debut song, “Next Time.” Featuring Harding in his own Saint Laurent leather jacket and jeans, the L.A.-lensed video, the Music Project’s first, also captures a moody Grace Hartzel, a Saint Laurent exclusive. Harding joins the project’s “Blues and Rock Legends” series, which has previously featured Chuck Berry, BB King, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Harding’s debut album, Soul Power, will be released through Burger Records this March.

FOR MORE ON CURTIS HARDING’S PERFORMANCE FOR THE SAINT LAURENT MUSIC PROJECT, VISIT THE SAINT LAURENT WEBSITE.