Dance and Discipline: Hedi Slimane’s Archival Photographs from Russia

Originally written for vogue.ru in 2017

This week, Hedi Slimane revealed what’s next. In an interview with The New York Times, the designer dismissed rumors of launching his own fashion brand, instead announcing his decision to focus on a lifelong passion: photography.

“My own name was always off limits, entirely dedicated to photography,” Slimane told The New York Times. “It is a necessity for me, and reasonable, to create clear, legitimate and protective creative territories and boundaries.”

“I started at 11 with black-and-white photography. It has always been a natural and defining part of my life, a personal, intimate process. I am deeply attached to each of the characters I depict, and to my photography archive.”

“I am equally fond of fashion. However, it is a different process — more analytic, drawn by the semiotic of fashion and individuality, the sense of personal style rather than fashion (design) standards.”

As both photographer and designer, Slimane has always turned his gaze toward youth culture. Alongside fashion editorials and ad campaigns featuring rock musicians, he has spent the past decade documenting teenage life and the underground club scene in Los Angeles for The Hedi Slimane Diary. His photobooks — Berlin, Stage, Rock Diary — capture the raw, vital energy of adolescence and how it finds its outlet in music, rebellion, and artistic expression.

Among all of Slimane’s shoots for Vogue Russia, one stands out: a documentary-style series from his first trip to Russia in 2005, dedicated to teenagers. Through these images, the photographer offers a glimpse into two seemingly opposite institutions: the Suvorov Military School in Moscow and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg.

It’s no surprise that Slimane’s interest in photography includes Russian ballet — during his time designing menswear at Yves Saint Laurent, Slimane was captivated by it; watching performances in Paris, he drew creative influence for his collections.

We revisit these archival photographs, which offer an interesting reflection on Russian cultural codes through Slimane’s gaze. The portraits — of cadets and ballet students — highlight the parallel coming-of-age journeys of two seemingly distant groups of boys.

“I had the impression that both the military and ballet were embedded in the Russian way of life,” Slimane commented for the publication. “Dance requires discipline — almost the same as in the army.”

Here, Slimane captures youth in service — whether to art or to authority — each path demanding the sacrifice of one’s best years to a larger cultural ideal, which he defines as heroism.

Hedi Slimane for Vogue Russia, 2005