Barred by Saint Laurent, Attacked by Gaga, a Fashion Critic Carries On

It’s been a strange few weeks for the fashion critic Cathy Horyn. First, she was the subject of a critical full-page ad in Women’s Wear Daily taken out by the legendary designer Oscar de la Renta.

Now Lady Gaga has attacked her in lyrics, and the designer Hedi Slimane decided not to invite her to the Paris show of Saint Laurent, where he is creative director.

I asked Stuart Emmrich, the Style editor, to respond. The situation is unusual, he acknowledged – so much so that The Times will run a reported story that mentions it in Thursday’s paper by Eric Wilson.

“I would say I find the situation (about being barred from the Slimane show) more perplexing than upsetting,” Mr. Emmrich said. “I think Cathy dealt very deftly with this issue in the blog post she wrote after the YSL show.”

As for Lady Gaga, Mr. Emmrich was dismissive: “Gaga is Gaga, and being outrageous, even vulgar, seems to be one of the ways she keeps herself in the public eye. I’m not going to concern myself with her opinions of our fashion coverage.”

Ms. Horyn is among the preeminent fashion critics in the United States, if not the world, and there is no question her work sometimes has a sharp bite. The New York Observer described her recently as “notoriously harsh.”

Of Mr. Slimane’s current work, which she saw online, she wrote this in Wednesday’s Times: “It was a nice but frozen vision of a bohemian chick at the Chateau Marmont.” (Fashion criticism is a world unto itself. Consider that, in the same article, Ms. Horyn wrote of Karl Lagerfeld’s work for Chanel: “The short, blown-out silhouette is self-evidently about air.”)

“I don’t think there’s any chance that this will change the way we approach our coverage of fashion shows, or impact Cathy’s work as a critic,” Mr. Emmrich said. “I will let her work speak for itself, even when it is being inaccurately described, such as in that quote by The Observer. My feelings can probably be summed up in a statement that I issued to W.W.D. after today’s article ran: ‘We’re not going to get into an argument with anyone, but it goes without saying that we stand behind Cathy’s critiques, which are invariably insightful and completely fair.’ ”

Mr. Emmrich noted that some members of the fashion press support Ms. Horyn adamantly.

Criticism, by its nature, cannot make its subjects happy at all times.  And fashion designers are a temperamental lot. The combination is likely to result in a Parisian contretemps now and then — but not one that should change the critic’s approach.