Check out these advertisements for Hedi Slimane's Saint Laurent Paris F/W 2013 collection. Grunge and punk have long been inspirations for the French designer, but they have never been as heavy-handed as they have been as of late, the above photo set serving as a prime example. Not only do the ads depict Cole Smith, of indy-rock group DIIV, in very Kurt Cobain-esque clothing, but dude looks eerily similar to the deceased Nirvana frontman. What's annoying is not even that Slimane is appropriating grunge culture to churn out high-end fashion and an even higher-end profit, because designers have been doing that shit for years to varying degrees of success, but that he's shamelessly going all Gus Van Sant's Last Days on us. All anyone is going to see is the poster boy for a lost generation because, honestly, no one gives a shit about Cole Smith. The Cobain references in fashion are beyond tired at this point and, frankly, we were holding on to the idea that Slimane was better than that. By brashly channeling an icon who famously bemoaned posers, Slimane may have finally become one himself.
