Former Yves Saint Laurent creative director Hedi Slimane has filed suit in a French labor court against his former employer’s parent company, Kering. The Paris-based luxury conglomerate, which also owns Gucci, Balenciaga, and Bottega Veneta, among other brands, confirmed the lawsuit in a statement, saying the litigation centers upon the non-compete provisions in Slimane’s previous contract with YSL. Kering has said it lifted this clause (a common contractual provision entered into between two parties either upon contract signing or at the end of a business relationship, in which one party agrees not to compete with the other for a set period of time).
By lifting the non-compete provision at the end of Slimane’s contract in April, Kering simultaneously freed Slimane of the contractual limitation that would otherwise prevent him from working for a competing house for a set period of time and also served to cut off compensation to Slimane, which would have sustained for the duration of the non-compete period.
In its statement, Kering said that Slimane is allegedly requesting that this clause still be applied and that he be compensated for the rest of the duration of the non-compete clause, which is likely for a year or so. According to Reuters, “Kering said the disagreement does not alter the group’s recognition for Slimane’s contribution, who it said has reformed the fashion house during his four-year tenure as creative director.”
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