Hedi Slimane exits as Celine’s artistic director after seven years
As Paris Fashion Week reached its end, it unleashed a dramatic surprise as Hedi Slimane officially left Celine.
Celine’s parent company LVMH released a statement yesterday, Oct. 2, that cited Slimane’s departure and their deep gratitude for the creative head.
“Under his creative and artistic direction, Celine has experienced exceptional growth and established itself as an iconic French couture house.”
They added that Slimane’s contributions have embedded Celine’s artistic brand in the Parisian haute couture scene.
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Celine’s ‘reinvention’ under Hedi Slimane
As its artistic, creative, and image director since February 2018, Hedi Slimane knew how to change the tides of fashion to attract the younger generation into the French luxury fashion house’s reach. He curated pieces with a touch of rock and roll, which evidently defined the ‘modern’ Celine brand.
Dropping the accented “é” in Céline inspired by the brand’s 1960s historical roots was one of Slimane’s bolder moves.
“The accent on the “e” has been removed to enable a simplified and more balanced proportion, evoking the Celine collections of the 1960s where the accent wasn’t used often,” their Instagram post stated after reintroducing the logo.
This gave Celine a more elegant and fresher approach to its audience.
The French artistic director also steered Celine towards menswear when they released their first menswear collection in 2019. In addition to Slimane’s signature rock and roll vibe, he also tried to introduce a more classic French Academia style for his succeeding collections.
In addition to the reimagined runway looks, Slimane was also responsible for launching Celine’s haute perfumery that offered scents for men and women. The brand also debuted the Celine Beauté makeup line to the public, a first since its opening.
According to a Reuters article, Luca Solca, a Berstein analyst, stated that Slimane’s overall impact likely generated 2.5 billion euros in revenue for Celine.
In the wake of Slimane’s departure, the LVMH Group has announced that Michael Rider will take over Slimane’s artistic director position. The New York-based designer recently spearheaded fashion collections from luxury brands like Balenciaga and Ralph Lauren. He was also a former design director at Celine from 2008 to 2018.