In the latest spitball tossed in a schoolyard-style brawl, Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve has passed an angry letter to WWD, lambasting the publication for its recent story on the Hedi Slimane vs Raf Simons non-rivalry.

In part, it reads: “To caricature the arrival of Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent to a banal rivalry with another house or designer encourages people to relegate fashion to a sideshow rather than the main event. In particular, it obscures what is a much richer and I think more important moment in the fashion industry. Hedi’s choice to join YSL was motivated by a very clear vision for the house, which means round-the-clock work for him and all my teams to turn that vision into a reality for all to see and enjoy.”

The letter to the editor comes a week after the trade paper’s piece pitting the two—and their first collections for their new houses, Saint Laurent Paris and Dior—against each other, over a month after the Paris collections. 

Deneve also makes the case that focusing on the manufactured conflict and needless comparisons takes attention away from other designers, and, just importantly, the clothes. He’s right, of course, but can you blame a daily for ginning up a little faux friction during the slow season?