Why is fashion so obsessed with Hedi Slimane?

Sixteen months after he left his post as creative director of Saint Laurent, the former designer-turned-photographer-turned-designer-turned-etc. is once again all over the industry after an extensive “California” photography portfolio for Italian Vogue and an interview he gave (via email) to the magazine’s editor at large, Luke Leitch. Amid a discussion of his art and life, he once again left the door open to returning to the business of clothes, causing a flurry of breathless headlines from i-D to WWD and multiple Vogues along the lines of “Is Hedi Ready to Return?”

But let’s be honest, people: He’s been saying this since he left Saint Laurent, most often in the context of his photography being published in a fashion magazine. He said it, for example, in The New York Times early this year, when another portfolio was published in V Magazine.

It’s a dysfunctional relationship neither party can quite bring itself to sever. Among all the very talented designers currently without a big job — Alber Elbaz, Stefano Pilati, Peter Copping, Bouchra Jarrar, to name a few — he has remained the most in-fashion out-of-fashion. But before this goes any further, perhaps it’s time for a reality check: to ask why we can’t quite let go (nor, apparently, can he), and whether it is time to put the myth in perspective.

It would be easy, in answer to the first question, to say it’s because Mr. Slimane was so talented or so successful, and why should anyone turn their back on success? But while there’s no question that he pressed the reset button on Saint Laurent, making it relevant again and supercharging its sales figures, it is also worth pointing out that his departure has not hurt the house or its image.