WHAT IS HAPPENING AT CELINE & WHO IS HEDI SLIMANE?

 

During these past several weeks the news around Hedi Slimane potentially leaving the house of Celine really piqued my interest. The Business of Fashion (BoF) published a bold article entitled Can Celine Work Without Hedi Slimane? and I haven’t stopped reading about this and everything about Hedi Slimane.

 

 

So much could be said about the BoF article, but perhaps it is most of all just honest. But let’s start off with the fact that it’s only been six years since Hedi Slimane took over after his predecessor Phoebe Philo; taking the house of Celine in a completely different direction. So much was said about this transition, the company saw a dip in profits for the first months followed by an unanticipated growth in sales from 850 million to 2.5 billion EUR under Hedi Slimane. Celine jumped to third in rank amongst the brands owned by the LVMH conglomerate, beating Fendi. This is what LVMH wanted, and Hedi Slimane delivered. So it feels a bit rushed to have a change, and perhaps a little risky for the house of Celine, no?

In this blog post, I want to deep dive into who Hedi Slimane is in the fashion industry, how did he become so successful and why does he always keep moving to the ‘next’ project.
My sources are from fashion journalists, magazines, interviews – so I share with you information that is probably alleged.

 

This blog post is all about Hedi Slimane and his potential departure from the house of Celine. 

 

HISTORY

Hedi Slimane’s first hands on experience in the fashion world was as as assistant to Jean-Jacques Picart in a project for a reinterpretation of the Louis Vuitton monogram. Through Picart he was introduced to Pierre Bergé, who became one of his fierce advocates. Bergé was the cofounder of Yves Saint Laurent (YSL). Slimane was the ready to wear director of the men’s collection at YSL in the 90’s. He was then appointed creative director for Christian Dior Homme 2001-2007 after turning down a similar opportunity at Jil Sander; then back at Saint Laurent between 2012-2016, this time as creative director.  In 2018, as we all know, Slimane took over as creative director for Celine, dropping the accent, alongside its feminist ethos.

Slimane left his initial appointment at YSL because of a lot of turmoil at the house. YSL was purchased by Gucci in 1999, expanding Tom Ford’s role from the creative director of Gucci, into YSL. This added another layer to the hierarchy Slimane had to report to. He has expressed his discontent with this in several interviews about his past experiences. He leaves YSL at the end of the decade.

Slimane did not necessarily have a robust resumé when appointed as creative director for Dior Homme. Even he was surprised to learn about his appointment, sources say. Nevertheless, Dior grew 41% when Slimane was creative director of the men’s collection. There, he refined the Slimane silhouette, which consisted of form fitting tailored suits with shoulder pads and skinny pants or jeans (sound familiar?). Celebrities as well as world renowned musicians, especially rock singers and bands, adored the Slimane look. It is said Karl Lagerfeld shed a few pounds to fit in his suits. David Bowie was dressed by Slimane on his tours, he also handed Slimane his CFDA award in 2002. Slimane also dressed famous women in Hollywood, even when he didn’t have a women’s collection at the time. He then launched the perfume Higher by Dior, and was involved in all aspects of creating and marketing, a very Hedi Slimane move we would all come to know. 

When appointed creative director at YSL, he dropped the Yves, followed by much controversy. Saint Laurent became the impersonation of Parisian Rock Chic. He designed for both women and men. We are all too familiar with the look he showcased on the runway, the long hair with fringes, deep V neck tucked in tops, long chains, fitted blazers, tight pants and high heels.

Based on his timeline, Slimane seems to take extended breaks from designing for fashion houses; he is a man of many talents. Before he joins Dior Homme, he spent two years in Berlin actively photographing regular people whose style caught his eye, but also those in the underground club scene of Berlin and publishing a book entitled, Berlin. Between his time at Dior and Saint Laurent, he moved to California and focused on photography, and finally between Saint Laurent and Celine he relaxed for another two years, focusing on his photography.

 

PATTERNS & MORE PATTERNS

Hedi Slimane’s professional career seems to be filled with recurrent events. Slimane left Dior and Saint Laurent after the end of his first contracts with each fashion house, never renewing them. The same could be said about his upcoming or should I say potential departure from Celine. He is in negotiations with LVMH, per BoF, described as thorny.

Slimane likes to be in full control as he is now at Celine, a creative director, artistic and image director. He is not interested in just designing pieces, but rather how and when they are advertised are just as important to him. In his negotiations, he supposedly wants royalties on any of the items that he has designed, and full control of the fashion house Celine. It could be argued that for the amount of overseeing and involvement he has, the latter is a reasonable ask, however taking full control of a house can be very challenging to deal with if the designer’s plans do not align with the backing company, in this case LVMH. No company wants to hand over that much power to a designer when they are funding the business side.

Additionally, he does not want to speak to the media, minimizing communication from the house of Celine to almost none. This is no news for Hedi Slimane, he has never been a fan of talking to the media. He had minimized interviews while at Christian Dior and Saint Laurent. 

He is also once again described as difficult to work with. Which is by no means a personal opinion of mine, I am also keenly aware of how this word is often used to destroy one’s reputation. However, when Slimane moved to California after he completed his appointment at Dior Homme, he stayed there during his creative directorship of Saint Laurent, moving the headquarters to the US. When he took over the house of Celine, he wanted to move the headquarters to St Tropez, his home base. Since LVMH was not agreeable, he decided to stay there while the entire team was based in Paris making it challenging for a smooth workflow. Each item has to be shipped to him for approval, which may not be a significant cost for Celine to handle, but it sure presents as an additional step in what it takes to get a product on the market. 

Slimane also expressed his difficulty in compromising in his past interviews. He is often described as a perfectionist by those who have worked with him as well as his clients. In an idealistic world, this is a great characteristic to have attached to your name. But what happens when you don’t have the final say or something can’t happen the way you want it to. Could that be his vice?

 

HEDI SLIMANE AT HOUSE OF CELINE

During his time at Celine, he redesigned every store to the brand’s new esthetic. Re-created the brand’s logo as the triomphe. Launched his own selection of bags and ready to wear collection, alongside a new perfume line and upcoming cosmetics. Each of these separate product lines do not have an overseeing creative director. It is all Hedi Slimane. He is also known to lead the marketing side and sometimes shoots his own campaigns. Celine became more successful, if one were to measure success solely based on profits (you almost got me there). LVMH has also advertised Celine more heavily, contributing to the success of the brand.

With all that being said, Celine in its current state, doesn’t necessarily stand out in a unique style and brand ethos as it did under his predecessor Phoebe Philo. Celine has become Saint Laurent in more ways than anticipated. Take Saint Laurent’s first runway collection under Slimane and compare that to Celine’s first runway show, I would say nearly identical. Think about the store experience as you walk in, that glamorous marble based décor. Celine’s logo is the triomphe, very archive inspired from Céline Vipiana herself, so not quite creative. And that logo became the central piece to garnish nearly each and every single bag and wallet made by Slimane. Celine’s website is flooded with logo featured handbags, that lack creativity and style.

Logo featured Saint Laurent handbags.

 

Logo featured Celine handbags.

 

Celine has become Saint Laurent in more ways than anticipated.

 

WHAT IS NEXT FOR CELINE?

There is only a handful of news sources discussing Hedi Slimane’s departure from Celine. But that doesn’t mean that those are just rumors. BoF is partially owned by LVMH, so I would think it got the nod of approval before publishing that article.

There are potential designers who are lining up for the interviews for creative directorship at Celine. Some have said a certain designer at Ralph Lauren could be next – Michael Rider, or perhaps Sarah Jane Burton after a thirteen year successful run at Alexander McQueen. Either way, my sales associates at Celine in SoHo as well as Geneva (on my recent trip), did confirm the news was factual, they were also curious about who is coming next. No one is denying this. It remains to be seen who is coming to the fashion house. 

 

WHAT IS NEXT FOR SLIMANE?

There is also another burning question, where is Hedi Slimane going next? The rumors have speculated that he could be interested in retiring or focusing on photography again. I do not believe this to be true. No one goes from full control of fashion house to sitting at home leading a leisurely life. I have also heard that he may be considered as creative director of Chanel, however the fashion house does not have a men’s line. Lastly, another speculation is that Hedi Slimane is launching his own namesake brand. It remains to be seen. I frankly think he may be building his own fashion house, however designers usually stick with the same companies when they open their own namesake labels and Slimane seems to be on shaky grounds with LVMH.

I still feel this is too soon for Celine to be shifting gears. The price may be too high to pay, who knows. Do you continue buying from a brand walking on shaky grounds? or do you just succumb to the beautiful things they produce? I may be from the former group. Whoever decided not to find a way to retain Phoebe Philo, would have been nice. Don’t you think?

 

This blog post is all about Hedi Slimane and his potential departure from the house of Celine. 

 

As always, thank you for stopping by and reading. If this content interested you, you might want to follow my instagram account @girlontheues

 

See you next week,

Girl on the Upper East Side

Xx

 

If this topic interested you. You might want to read my blog post on The Row and Phoebe Philo.

 

References

There are many, but certainly the BoF Article.