Suzy Menkes writes in the International Heral Tribune:

PARIS: Christian Dior, the luxury house that is part of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton group, has lost one of the brightest bulbs in its couture chandelier.

The Paris house announced Thursday that a new menswear designer would take over from Hedi Slimane, 38, after Dior and Slimane failed during drawn-out negotiations to agree on a way to support a new label under his own name.

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Ex-Dior Homme, designer Hedi Slimane says he walked away because he was unwilling to compromise his principles "and the idea I have about fashion," reports WWD.

In text posted on his Web site Hedislimane.com over the weekend, only days after Dior announced he would be replaced Slimane writes.

"I observed with interest how blurry and twisted everything had become."

"I almost feel like I'm a stranger to all this, and totally relieved it has finally come out. I cannot thank my team enough - they were always by my side and me by theirs. I want to thank Bernard Arnault, who trusted me with this project. I was really blessed to be able to develop it. I hope he will understand my position and decision, if not now, then hopefully with some time. Close to a year ago, more precisely last July, at the end of my contract, I felt it was time for me to make a major change, and leave the company. I had already set up the principles that could continue to be there for Dior Homme. As for my own style and aesthetic, I decided it was time to separate the two. It has been said that a proposal came to me to start a new house under my name if I stayed at Dior Homme. I tried to make things work for about a year.

However, I had the feeling it was not the right project for me. There are areas I will not compromise with at all when it comes to my work, and setting up a label under my own name. I always kept in mind the precedence of some designers I admire who were in a similar situation, and chose the other path. Perhaps in another time in my life, under other circumstances, my name and the management of a company under my own label would be considered differently. Right now I feel it is very important to stay true to my principles, and the idea I have of fashion. I had no other choice than to refuse the kind proposition that was made and to decline a new Dior Homme contract. I made this clear just after my last show, the second week of February, and left for Los Angeles. I decided to walk away from Dior, and move entirely forward."