Hedi Slimane, one of the most iconoclastic and charismatic characters in modern fashion, was on Sunday named the new creative director at Céline.
Almost two years after leaving Saint Laurent, Slimane, 49, takes up his new role next month – replacing outgoing designer Phoebe Philo – and will present his first Céline catwalk show in Paris in September.
At Dior Homme, where he reigned from 2000 till 2007, he introduced a super-skinny silhouette which radically changed how men wanted to look and dress. David Bowie wore Dior Homme tailoring on tour; Brad Pitt wore it for his first wedding. The “17cm” black jeans, named for the small size of the leg opening, relegated the macho beefcake aesthetic to the 20th century, and skinny jeans became a uniform for a new generation. A decade later he was making major changes at another leading fashion house, removing the Yves to rebrand YSL as Saint Laurent, and causing a stir by relocating the atelier from Saint Germain to his adopted home of California.
At both Dior Homme and Saint Laurent, Slimane’s arthouse aesthetic proved to be box office gold. In less than four years at Saint Laurent, he oversaw an almost threefold rise in profits as he transformed a heritage label into a worldwide bestseller. An elevated title (artistic, creative and image director of Céline) and word that its owners LVMH will allow him to move creative headquarters from France to California, point to the high regard in which he is held.
Bernard Arnault on Sunday described Slimane as “one of the most talented designers of our time.” LVMH now hope to leverage Céline’s chic credentials into a bigger and more profitable brand. The house will expand into menswear, while a fragrance launch is expected within a year. Aided by its new Californian connection, Céline is also likely to become a red carpet name for the first time: Jessica Chastain and Angelina Jolie were among the Hollywood names who wore Slimane’s Saint Laurent on the red carpet.
There is an affinity between Slimane and Philo in their modernist vision and cultured approach to design. Both create brands with a cool emotional tone, and have an obsession with logo and font. Both insist on art gallery taste when redesigning stores. Slimane is a noted photographer; Philo’s Céline shows were notable for the thick sheaves of reference photography – Brassai one season, Basquiat another – left on each seat.
But there is a stark contrast between their visions of femininity. Phoebe Philo, a pioneer of the 21st century rebirth of the female gaze, began a quiet revolution at Céline by rejecting the whimsical, flirtatious traditions of Parisian charm and reimagining chic from the point of view of what a grown woman with a job might want to wear. By contrast, Slimane’s heritage is originally in menswear, and his womenswear catwalk shows for Saint Laurent were notable for their micro mini party dresses, teamed with heavy eye makeup and teetering stilettos.
Karl Lagerfeld, who famously lost 90lbs in order to fit into Slimane’s Dior Homme suits, welcomed the appointment, telling Womenswear Daily “I am enchanted, what a great choice”.
Phoebe Philo’s next move is as yet unknown, despite persistent rumours linking her to Burberry, where Christopher Bailey’s tenure is coming to an end.
