Then Céline became Celine. The brand’s accent-less future takes its cue from the original version of the logo that existed in the 1960s. Slimane found the simplified typography more balanced, and so nixed his predecessor Phoebe Philo’s choice of grammar. Every post dictated by Philo’s team was also deleted from the feed as Slimane flexed his muscle at social-media marketing.
The three Insta videos declaring the new #CELINEBYHEDISLIMANE logo against a set of gold lamé curtains were followed by our first glimpse of Celine ready-to-wear. Yes, the model has his or her back turned to the camera. Yes, it’s basically a backwards head shot. But, there are certain Slimane traits we can take away from the photograph.
It’s black-and-white, the preferred format of the keen photographer. The shiny long paillettes on the jacket are in the same vein as the flashy metallic curtains posted previously. Read: disco-ready. If Slimane’s 50th birthday pictures from Paris’ legendary Le Palace nightclub are anything to go by, his devotion to the gritty rock‘n’roll aesthetic that inspires his world shows no sign of wavering. It was the most refined type of debauchery imaginable – a zeitgeist that millennials, who Slimane has previous success targeting, buy into.
Finally, the model. The ambiguity of Slimane’s chosen poster person for the brand is in line with the fact we know he will present both menswear and womenswear at his Paris Fashion Week show on September 28th. Couture and fragrance will also bolster Celine's new categories, but we are yet to see Slimane's plan for these lines filter onto social.
Mark 8pm in your diary to see Slimane take Celine into the night and away from the staunchly pared-back mood of Philo.
No comments:
Post a Comment