Kering to appeal $13m award to former YSL design chief Hedi Slimane

Luxury group Kering plans to appeal a legal decision to award $13m in compensation to Hedi Slimane, the former design chief of Yves Saint Laurent, who left the house earlier this year.

Slimane took legal action against Kering demanding his non-compete clause, and the financial compensation that goes with it, be reinstated. Kering had relieved Slimane of his non-compete clause when he left the company earlier this year thus freeing him to work for a competitor.

According to Reuters, Slimane's lawyer Herve Temime announced after the case: "We won. I'm happy because this its a natural outcome. The contract terms were absolutely clear."

But Kering has not accepted the decision, saying in a statement: "The decision that was just made public is an interim decision. Kering intends to appeal the decision. The procedure is still going on."

Slimane had been creative director at Kering-owned Yves Saint Laurent for four years before he left at the end of March. He was subsequently replaced by Anthony Vaccarello of Versus.

There had been speculation in the industry that Slimane was heading to Dior, where he had previously headed up menswear from 2000 to 2007, however shortly after Slimane's legal case was made public it was revealed that Valentino's Maria Grazia Chiuri had been awarded the top job at Dior.