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Hedi Slimane exits Celine

TheIndustry.fashion Team
02 October 2024

Artistic Director Hedi Slimane is leaving Celine after seven years at the helm, its owner LVMH has announced. This comes after months of swirling rumours that Slimane was next in line to take over the reins at rival Parisian house Chanel.

Slimane joined Celine as Artistic, Creative and Image Director in February 2018, following the departure of Phoebe Philo, who we later learned left to pursue her eponymous brand. Pheobe Philo launched the ultra-luxury brand in September 2023.

Hedi Slimane was previously the Artistic Director of menswear at Kering-owned Yves Saint Laurent until 2000 when he joined Dior Homme. He left Dior in 2007 and returned to Yves Saint Laurent in 2012 as Creative Director, later exiting the business in 2016.

Hedi Slimane's role at Celine, which he held since 2018, has encompassed a wider remit for the French fashion house, having been charged with extending the luxury brand into menswear, couture and fragrances. With Slimane at the helm, Celine said goodbye to sleek shirts and pale silks and hello to an edgier, grungier and darker aesthetic. After a successful six-year stint as Artistic Director, during which Celine transformed into a megabrand, Slimane's exit may come as a blow to the French luxury house.

"Under his creative and artistic direction, Celine has experienced exceptional growth and established itself as an iconic French couture house," Celine said in a statement.

"The extraordinary journey taken together over the last seven years has made Celine a house with a formidable foundation for the future."

Michael Rider, who was previously the Creative Director at Polo Ralph Lauren, has been announced as Hedi Slimane's successor.

Slimane's departure, however, may not be a shock to fashion insiders. Rumours have been swirling for months that he will take over at Chanel after its Creative Director Virginie Viard stepped down in June. Plus, his last show for Celine, which was in presentation format at Paris Fashion Week, was almost reminiscent of a stripped-back Chanel.

Viard took over the role from the late, legendary designer Karl Lagerfeld five years ago. Viard had been Lagerfeld's right hand during his tenure and had been at the luxury French fashion house for 30 years.

At the time of her departure, Chanel said: "A new creative organisation will be announced in due course. Chanel would like to thank Virginie Viard for her remarkable contribution to Chanel’s fashion, creativity and vitality."

Though Viard's successor has yet to be announced, the empty top job is leaving a sense of real change in the air. Is there a reason Chanel is taking so long to appoint Viard's successor? Perhaps the brand awaited Celine's announcement.

After all, this may be what Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's former Creative Director, may have wanted. Lagerfeld was once a fan of the designer, citing Slimane's figure-pinching tailoring at Dior Homme as the reason he ditched junk food. However, with the position yet to be announced, Simon Porte Jacquemus of Jacquemus may still be in the running.

Read TheIndustry.fashion's feature 'Are the luxury fashion jigsaw pieces finally falling into place?' to learn more about Creative Director reshuffles in recent months.


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