Marilyn Manson & Courtney Love are the new faces of Saint Laurent: cool or wtf?

Marilyn Manson

I’ll be honest here and admit that when I first spotted this image, which purported to be part of the new Saint Laurent spring campaign, I honestly thought it was one of those incredibly annoying and not-so-funny April Fool’s jokes. That theory sounds plausible, correct?

Well, it’s not a joke, and Marilyn Manson is indeed the newest face of Saint Laurent as revealed by the Instagram account of Nicola Formichetti, who is the creative director for French fashion house Mulger. Formichetti is apparently a huge fan of the new campaign that features Marilyn wearing a rather subdued (for him) round of black lipstick and eyeliner with a very rock ‘n’ roll leather jacket. Is Saint Laurent trying to overhaul its image and appear “edgier” to consumers? I guess they could do worse than Marilyn Manson in that regard. Oh wait … they have done just that by adding Courtney Love to the campaign.

Courtney Love

Some of you older types (like me) will notice that at least Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth is appearing in this campaign as well. As a whole, these ads will be known as creative director Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent Music Project. Before some of you suggest that perhaps Yves Saint Laurent himself is rolling in his grave as we speak, the designer was once known for collaborations with musicians like David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull. While Manson and Love aren’t quite as lofty as Bowie and Faithfull, they’re all icons (like it or not). Even Courtney, who is the perfect example of a rock ‘n’ roll trainwreck, is iconic in her own way. Sure, these ads make sense even if they do feature a not-so-pretty “shock rocker.”

Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson

Photos courtesy of Instagram and WENN

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77 Responses to “Marilyn Manson & Courtney Love are the new faces of Saint Laurent: cool or wtf?”

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  1. i'm french don't kill me says:

    the junkies are so attractives!

    • LadyBird83 says:

      No. They are paying omage to 90s rockers. It’s awesome.

      • i'm french don't kill me says:

        if you want to do a hommage to 90’s rock, you take Reznor,Billy Corgan,Tom Yorke,PJ Harvey,Shirley Manson and …Kim Gordon but NOT some famewhores like Courtney Love and Marylin Manson

      • c'est la vie says:

        Agreed. Is this so 15-20 years ago or what.
        These two are hardly relevant.

        Didn’t even know they were still around…
        It makes me not to want to buy the product -hardly the purpose of an ad campaign.

      • EscapedConvent says:

        Absolutely agree. Trent Reznor & PJ Harvey would make sense—this doesn’t.

        And Bowie & Marianne Faithfull! Now that was sublime. They just don’t make `em like that anymore……

      • Pop! says:

        It would have been epic for me if they had gotten Shirley Manson. I adore her.

      • Leen says:

        I’m French, you listed pretty much all my fav people (I’m big on 90s alt and I have a huge girl crush on Shirley Manson). But Marilyn manson’s music is still very good, it is not as known anymore. It’s more mellow and subdued (not the new album tho ill admit). And although she’s no longer producing good music, Hole’s music is still iconic for those into 90s alt.

  2. Willa says:

    Well ok then… Thats all I got.

  3. Lina says:

    WHY HEDI, WHHHYYYYYY?!

  4. Hannah says:

    Hedi Slimane is way too obsessed with all of that rock’n’roll mythology. It’s embarrassing, really.

  5. Bianca says:

    I hate Courtney Love. Irrationally so, yet very much.

    • NerdMomma says:

      I love Courtney Love, and I think my love for her is also completely irrational 🙂

  6. crab says:

    I like it!

  7. Samtha says:

    Ugh. I loved YSL (the Muse 2 is a great work bag), but since they dropped the “Y,” it just hasn’t been the same. Slimane supposedly wants to make the label more relevant, and, well…Marilyn Manson and Courtney Love might have been good choices for that fifteen years ago.

    That, and the St. Laurent Paris bags look like Celine rip-offs.

    • arock says:

      agree with your take on YSL. the first time i heard it, it took a beat pause to remember they changed.
      up thread some one mentioned PJ Harvey (!) andi totally agree. getting bikini kill back together for a (Y)SL photo shoot would be genius.

  8. Joanna says:

    cool!

  9. pepi says:

    love it!

  10. gg says:

    Brand destruction.

  11. Dorothy says:

    Ewwwww.

  12. Deb says:

    Ugh

  13. Leen says:

    OMG Kim Gordon! I just got back into Sonic Youth a couple of days ago and what a surprise.
    it’s not just the older ones who know her, I’m 21 one and I’ve been listening to Sonic Youth since I was 13 😉

    I co-sign this campaign. I love all of their music (even though Courtney Love is a trainwreck and I just cringe every time I see her, her music is awesome).

  14. Nikki says:

    While I think Marilyn Manson is intelligent, is he seriously going to be dressing up like an albino zombie when he’s 80 years old?

    His schtick is pretty played out and no longer shocking at all. It’s just masturbatory at this point.

    • Miffy says:

      +1

    • Doofus says:

      Well, he’s not as intelligent as he thinks he is. And I COMPLETELY agree on the whole goth make up thing. It’s over and he needs a new shtick.

      He looks ridiculous but if he didn’t wear all that makeup people would be able to see how ugly he actually is.

  15. Gwen says:

    HATE IT.

  16. Miffy says:

    They could have done so much more with this campaign for the names involved. Underwhelming at best. It’s just photos of musicians wearing designer sh*t. As a concept it’s nothing more than a giant, visual name-drop.

    • Another Ann says:

      It really does nothing to make you want to buy the brand. On the contrary, it will probably turn off a number of their customer base.

      Are there really people out there who aspire to look like Manson or Love? And in what universe are either of them still considered “cool”? They’re more like has-beens at this point.

  17. teehee says:

    Hmmm. I’m just happy to see Manson up to something. To be honest i miss his presence since the mid 90’s…. he had a special roll/gap to fill and no one has replaced his spot yet…

  18. arock says:

    its like watching 1993 try to sell me a bag.

    • insomniac says:

      HA! I actually like this campaign, but that’s hilarious.

      And damn, I didn’t even recognize Kim Gordon.

  19. Jane says:

    I’m having a WTF moment with this. I can’t…I just can’t.

  20. Nar says:

    I adore Courtney, so good for her!

  21. bea says:

    This might have been interesting and/or relevant in 1995.

    Is that really MM in the last photo (with the cut-off sleeves)?! He looks so fat.

  22. Lulu.T.O. says:

    It just might work.

  23. marie says:

    I’m willing to hold judgment until I see more photos, the idea is not horrible though.

  24. Nev says:

    Courtney is a kool choice. Everybody else nah.

  25. MsAubra says:

    Marilyn’s accessory game gives me life

  26. Jane says:

    I approve!

  27. Zigggy says:

    Hedi Slimane must be around my age- I’m digging it! I’d way rather see these people in the campaign over Selena Gomez or January Jones or any of the nowadays (BORING) celebs.

  28. Kim Gordon looks fantastic, very cool for an ad campaign, and Courtney Love (gasp!) looks pretty good, too. Marilyn Manson, on the other hand? Ugh. Was Fred Durst busy or something?

    • i'm french don't kill me says:

      LOL on Fred Durst! or why not Trent Reznor and Billy Corgan?

      • littlestar says:

        Trent Reznor would have been a better choice, I agree. He’s edgy and sexy. Marilyn Manson is just a has been, IMO.

      • EscapedConvent says:

        Why not indeed? I like the idea of Trent Reznor for everything, at all times. I don’t mind looking at his pretty face one bit.

  29. LIVEALOT says:

    i dig it though it seems a bit forced

  30. karmasabiatch! says:

    I’m sure both respectively have their own fans…somewhere. But I’m just not feeling this. Manson works his edginess, but C-Love? Ugh.

  31. ladybert62 says:

    and what product exactly are they trying to sell with pictures of these people who look like drug/heroin addicts?

  32. VanillaDeeLite says:

    I don’t think the writer knows who Marianne Faithful is. Because if she/he did they would know she was as big of a mess as Courtney love ever was. I agree that someone like Manson ony wishes he was Bowie but Marianne was trash.

    • Ida says:

      I think the writer was comparing them as musicians not as drug addicts! Also, although I don’t hate C. Love, the woman is a giant embarrassment which M. Faithful never really was, even at her worst. Faithful was and remains very well read, articulate and intelligent. The same can’t be said for Love I think.

      • VanillaDeeLite says:

        Right, she was never even supposed to be a singer, her much older music producer boyfriend thought she was super cute and would sell a lot of records. Guys wrote all her songs.

      • VanillaDeeLite says:

        Also, ourtney love is also very well read and articulate when she’s not on drugs. You might not like her music but she’s very talented. Brilliant lyrics.

    • Lotta says:

      She might have been trash but she was (and is) a talanted piece of trash. Just as the people in this campaign.

      • VanillaDeeLite says:

        Yeah she was talented at getting keith and Mick to write al her songs for her and get her lots of drugs.

  33. Suzy from Ontario says:

    This is who they want representing their brand? Who made THAT decision?

  34. moon says:

    Ugh, YSL need to fire Hedi, ASAP. Or he should go back to focusing on designing clothes and actually come up with a decent collection. Dude is trying too hard with the ironic passé rockers, music project and the whole Saint Laurent rebranding shebang. The whole thing smells of unaware desperation, and the actual collection was a disaster.

  35. Lila says:

    Ewwwwwwie. I rather like some of their perfumes, and am totally grossed out picturing them on these crackies. Pass.

  36. mar says:

    at least it’s not Beyonce or some played out pop star

  37. KellyinSeattle says:

    Marilyn yes, Courtney no. Curious as to what Frances Bean is up to.

  38. Lucy says:

    Kim? YES. Anytime. Manson? Uh, alright. Courtney? A big nope.

  39. anonymoose says:

    re: Marilyn Manson – (@Jill, is totally Nicolas Cage’s stunt double!)
    1. is not “goth” (he’s shock rock, like Alice Cooper and NOT like Bauhaus or Siouxsie and the Banshees)
    2. was a has-been on Day 1 of his “career”
    3. photographs well in this campaign

    re: Courtney Love –
    1. has a certain something; is compelling if not personally sound or intellectually or emotionally stable
    2. has talent
    3. photographs very badly in this campaign

    re: Kim Gordon – (Is her X Girl clothing line still in production?)
    1. has always taken herself too seriously
    2. has cred if not talent
    3. meh

    re: Hedi Slimane – (why? ~shrug~)
    1. tries too hard and misses, self-important, underwhelming
    2. edgy (but not in a good way)
    3. meh

    • Leen says:

      Thank you! Marilyn Manson is most certainly NOT goth. Compare his music to Bauhaus, joy division, sisters of mercy, siouxie and you will most certainly hear the difference! I like MM but his music is not goth (it’s one of my fav. Genres actually).

  40. dcypher1 says:

    Love sonic youth good to see kim is still around the scene. Havent heard much about sy since her and thurston broke up. I hope their band didnt break up either idk.

  41. Grace says:

    Sigh… they’re redoing the 70’s drug and death chic statements for this generation. These are the people who represent excess, delusion, and decay.
    Kim is good but Shirley Manson would have been a better(and far more attractive) way to make the statement.

  42. mac says:

    This is kind of unrelated by Marilyn Manson was on an episode of Californiacation playing himself and it was awesome.

  43. xoxokaligrl says:

    In 1999 this would be edgy.

  44. xoxokaligrl says:

    In 1999 this would be edgy

  45. Jennifer12 says:

    Marilyn Manson is not talented. He always relied on shocking people. Courtney is a mess, but a truly gifted musician. Kim Gordon thought enough of her to produce “Pretty on the Inside”, which was phenomenal. And Kim? Icon. Courtney would’ve been, too, because of the talent, but she’s just too screwed up.

  46. Beatriz says:

    God, can you imagine if they would have gotten Bowie? That would have been EPIC.

  47. cruiz2 says:

    Haha – we went to the same high school!

  48. Jarredsgirl says:

    ugh. I was just watching Californication and I was commenting to my bf that MM is the world’s biggest douche. I really doubt that he is as intelligent as everyone says. He is a douche!

    Not happy.

  49. Loulou says:

    It’s not nice, Saint-Laurent, to make fun of these people. A little Shadenfreude with your luxury? A little a lot of irony and sarcasm in your campaigns? Either that, or since wanting to rid the label of the name “Yves”, what they’re doing is trying to run it to the ground. Whatever the case, that’s just plain weird.