Hedi Slimane Exits Celine After Seven Years At The Helm

After a seven-year run, Hedi Slimane is leaving Celine. “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 on Wednesday. “The extraordinary journey taken together over the last seven years has made Celine a house with a formidable foundation for the future.” No successor has been announced.

Slimane became artistic, creative and image director of Celine in February 2018, after Phoebe Philo’s departure. He was previously artistic director of menswear at Yves Saint Laurent until 2000, when he joined Dior Homme. This is where he created the skinny silhouette that famously prompted Karl Lagerfeld to go on a diet. Slimane left Dior in 2007 and returned to Yves Saint Laurent in 2012 as creative director, where he cut “Yves” from the name immediately before his first show. He left in 2016.

At Celine, he dropped the accent over the “e” in Céline, and introduced a new logo before his first show. His debut for spring/summer 2019 (where he added menswear) received “a raucous chorus of criticism”, wrote The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan. “In a single evening, he has blown up everything that Celine was, flushed it clean. His name might not be on the label, but in every other respect, the brand might as well be called Hedi Slimane,” Givhan wrote. For autumn/winter 2019, he shifted to a bourgeois French-girl look. This time, “it was a near-unanimous oui,” Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower wrote.

At the LVMH annual earnings conference in January 2018, soon after the announcement of Slimane’s appointment, LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said: “The objective with him is to reach at least €2 billion to €3 billion, and perhaps more, within five years.” At the time, Celine’s sales were close to €1 billion. Five years later, sales reached an estimated €2.6 billion in 2023, per HSBC, making it LVMH’s third largest fashion brand after Louis Vuitton and Dior – overtaking Fendi in terms of revenue. Slimane oversaw the introduction of Celine fragrances in 2019, and make-up (initially in the form of a lipstick line) is slated to follow this autumn.

Having shied away from the press from his start at the company, Slimane more or less stopped doing live runways after the pandemic, even as other designers in the LVMH stable resumed regular shows. Although he receded from public view, his amalgam of Parisienne haute bourgeoisie and Los Angeles rocker glam remained a persuasive vision.

In December 2022, Slimane chose Los Angeles – the city where he lived and worked as Saint Laurent’s creative director – for his first physical runway since the pandemic, titled “Age of Indieness”. “If Slimane is ever going to step out with an eponymous brand, this nostalgic collection would surely be its basis,” wrote Vogue Business’s Christina Binkley.

Still standing free from the fashion calendar, in early September, he unveiled his men’s SS25 collection in the format of a 13-minute film that he directed titled The Bright Young. This past weekend, during Paris Fashion Week, he also released an SS25 film titled Un Été français. The designer sent out a tweed-heavy collection, prompting commentators to believe he’s leaving for Chanel, which has yet to appoint a new designer.

“Celine continues to make strong progress,” said Arnault during the LVMH annual general meeting in April. “Celine is chic, hip, sexy fashion for young people even if the prices are what they are, and it works. I was in Japan last week with Delphine [Arnault]. I could see that in front of the Celine boutiques, there was an incredible line, up to two hours.” Where will Slimane land in his next act? Fashion will be watching closely.

Inside Coperni’s Disneyland Paris Show

Fashion month is a rollercoaster. A long one, with many sharp turns. When you board it, at the start of New York Fashion Week, you’ll have a sun-kissed August glow. People will remark how well you look. And you do look well. Your suitcase will be immaculately packed; you’ll be up to date with your dry cleaning. By London, the jet lag will leave you feeling slightly upside down, but nothing that a dab of that Victoria Beckham X Augustinus Bader concealer can’t hide. You’ll try to find time in your schedule to go to M&S to stock up on seamless microfibre low-rise briefs in lieu of having time to do laundry (but won’t). Around the midpoint of Milan Fashion Week, you’ll be willing to trade your front-row seat for an early night and a packet of Strepsils as your seat mates start coming down with something they swear isn’t Covid, but is – kind of – similar. You’ll FaceTime your hair colourist from your hotel bathroom to walk you through a root touch up.

By the time Paris Fashion Week is in full flow, however, you’ve acclimatised to living off the truffle crisps in the hotel mini bar between filing. You’re rejuvenated by Alessandro Michele’s debut Valentino show, and still buoyed by the memory of Pieter Mulier’s Alaïa spring/summer 2025 runway, which turned the famous helix of Manhattan’s Guggenheim Museum into a catwalk; the group chat has come back to life to hypothesise about where Hedi Slimane might go next, now that he’s parted ways with Celine. Now, you don’t want to go back to normal life – you want to hold on to the surreal fantasy of fashion month to the very end of the rollercoaster. And you’ll want the mid-ride photograph, where your eyes are half closed but you're smiling, having survived the loop-the-loop, as a souvenir.

Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, co-founders of viral French fashion label, Coperni, seem to be able to intuit how show guests would like to feel at a runway show – the wow-am-I-seeing-this-for-real-ness of a really great fashion spectacle. (Who can forget Bella Hadid and the spray-on dress, a piece of performance art that stunned onlookers – and broke the internet – during the finale of Coperni’s spring/summer 2023’s runway show.) For those of us who didn’t come down with the illness which definitely isn’t Covid, Paris Fashion Week (and an entire fashion month) ended at 1am this morning on Hyperspace Mountain at Disneyland Paris. It was there – specifically at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle – that the Coperni duo staged their spring/summer 2025 runway show. After a little over four weeks of divine chaos, I stepped off the rollercoaster with my hair standing on end, and thought: I’m so lucky that this is a job – like, an actual job – and then I rode Hyperspace Mountain again for a second time before retiring for a bag of truffle-flavoured crisps.

Meyer and Vaillant dubbed last night’s Disneyland Paris takeover “a celebration of youth, nostalgia and imagination” – and were bang on the mark. For anyone well versed in Disney-speak, the al fresco pre-show cocktails were held near the start of Main Street. (I should add that the fashion industry – and Vogue editors in particular – are Disney stans.) The atmosphere was similar to a school trip as we began walking en masse through the Magic Kingdom towards Sleeping Beauty’s castle to take our seats. At just before 11pm Paris time, the castle’s signature pink lights shut down. Everyone fell silent. Not tired silent, but in awe. That’s when the Disney string orchestra soundtrack, which makes you feel like everything might one day be OK in the world, kicked in and the show began. Fireworks, cinematic lightning bolts et al.

Jenner is now a mainstay on the world’s most select front rows, but taking a turn on the runway herself? That’s pretty rare. Sleeping Beauty’s castle glowed fuchsia pink as Jenner elegantly walked across the footbridge in a fairytale strapless gown and stocking gloves. The beauty mogul wasn’t in a hurry to get back to the city after the finale, either: when I stepped out of my Hyperspace Mountain seat (for the second time around in half an hour), a jubilant Jenner hopped in for her turn. The other rides which guests enjoyed well into the small hours? Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast and the Orbitron, while the Videopolis Theatre was transformed into a Coperni dance club for one night only.

Lila Moss graced the runway in a Cinderella-yellow body under a watery-sheer minidress (look 41), while Amelia Gray played the evil queen (look 27). Think: jets of smoke, flame-throwers and a throbbing techno soundtrack to accompany the raven-haired model as she strutted across the footbridge – the castle, naturally, illuminated fluorescent green.

Ten per cent of the collection was produced in collaboration with Disney, the designers told Vogue Runway’s Luke Leitch. They even mixed in vintage Disney merch, which is why looks 17 and 15 are among my personal favourites – right down to the key chains that jingled as the models walked. Naturally, I boarded the Eurostar the next day (having rested my head in the Disneyland Hotel under a portrait of Snow White), loaded down with souvenirs (see above: Vogue editors are Disney stans).

Missoni Names Its New Creative Director

Filippo Grazioli is stepping down as creative director of Missoni after just over two years to pursue “new creative and artistic challenges”, the Italian house said today. He will be replaced by company veteran Alberto Caliri.

Caliri has previously held the creative director role on an interim basis after Angela Missoni — daughter of the founder — stepped down in 2021 amid a management shake-up.

Grazioli joined the family-owned brand in 2022, taking on responsibility for the men’s and women’s collections and lifestyle division. Before that, he worked for Burberry under Riccardo Tisci, first as design director for women’s runway and later as a consultant. He was previously head designer of women’s ready-to-wear at Givenchy, also under Tisci.

For the spring/summer 2025 show in Milan, Grazioli leaned into Missoni’s zigzag stripes with “unwavering focus”, which made the collection “both punchy and strangely captivating”, wrote Vogue Runway’s Tiziana Cardini. The show was styled by Paris-based stylist, creative consultant and Dazed fashion director Imruh Asha, who is known for his eclectic use of colour.

“We are grateful to Filippo for his contribution and dedication. We look to the future with confidence, continuing our path of growth driven by innovation and quality while staying true to our strong identity,” said Missoni CEO Livio Proli in a statement.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to be part of Missoni. I am proud of the achievements and the experiences shared with the entire team. I am now ready to face new challenges and explore new frontiers,” said Grazioli.

Michael Rider Is The New Creative Director At Celine

Michael Rider is the new creative director at Celine, the LVMH-owned fashion house announced on Wednesday. His appointment will take effect in early 2025. He will have the entire creative responsibility of all Celine collections, including womenswear, menswear, leather goods and accessories to couture, the statement reads.

“I am delighted to welcome Michael back to Celine, a maison that he knows intimately. Michael’s vision, creative talent, together with his genuine nature and strong connection to Celine’s heritage make him a natural choice to continue to build a long-lasting success for the maison,” said Severine Merle, CEO of Celine. Rider said: “Celine is a maison with values very close to my heart and a beautiful heritage to build on.”

It comes after Celine announced the departure of Slimane earlier on Wednesday. Rider’s arrival at Celine is a coming home of sorts. The American designer was previously employed as design director at the brand, working there for a 10-year period that spanned Phoebe Philo’s tenure. Most recently, he was the creative director at Polo Ralph Lauren, a position he held since 2018. He left Ralph Lauren at the end of May.

Rider replaces Slimane, who was installed as artistic, creative and image director of Celine in 2018 after Philo’s departure. Slimane, who previously worked at Saint Laurent and Dior Homme, dropped the accent over the “e” in Céline and introduced a new logo before his first show. His debut for spring/summer 2019 (where he added me=nswear) received “a raucous chorus of criticism”, wrote The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan. “In a single evening, he has blown up everything that Celine was, Flushed it clean. His name might not be on the label, but in every other respect, the brand might as well be called Hedi Slimane,” Givhan wrote. For AW19, he shifted to a bourgeois French girl look. This time, “it was a near-unanimous oui,” Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower wrote.

At the LVMH annual earnings conference in January 2018, soon after the announcement of Slimane’s appointment, LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said: “The objective with him is to reach at least €2 billion to €3 billion, and perhaps more, within five years.” At the time, Celine’s sales were close to €1 billion. Five years later, sales reached an estimated €2.6 billion in 2023, per HSBC, making it LVMH’s third largest fashion brand after Louis Vuitton and Dior – overtaking Fendi in terms of revenue. Slimane oversaw the introduction of Celine fragrances in 2019, and make-up (initially in the form of a lipstick line) is slated to follow this autumn.

Having shied away from the press from his start at the company, Slimane more or less stopped doing live runways after the pandemic, even as other designers in the LVMH stable resumed regular shows. Though he receded from public view, his amalgam of Parisienne haute bourgeoisie and Los Angeles rocker glam remained a persuasive vision.

In December 2022, Slimane chose Los Angeles – the city where he lived and worked as Saint Laurent’s creative director – for his first physical runway since the pandemic, titled Age of Indieness. “If Slimane is ever going to step out with an eponymous brand, this nostalgic collection would surely be its basis,” wrote Vogue Business’s Christina Binkley. Still standing free from the fashion calendar, in early September, he unveiled his men’s SS25 collection in the format of a 13-minute film that he directed, titled The Bright Young.

“Celine continues to make strong progress,” said Arnault during the LVMH annual general meeting in April. “Celine is chic, hip, sexy fashion for young people even if the prices are what they are, and it works. I was in Japan last week with Delphine [Arnault]. I could see that in front of the Celine boutiques, there was an incredible line, up to two hours.”

Rider has operated behind the scenes at Polo Ralph Lauren, where the house founder is the go-to spokesperson, but he has made the Polo label look more distinctive than it has in years, raising its cool factor amidst a preppy renaissance led by other labels, many of them European, clearly inspired by the American legacy brand.

Hedi Slimane Exits Celine After Seven Years At The Helm

After a seven-year run, Hedi Slimane is leaving Celine. “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 on Wednesday. “The extraordinary journey taken together over the last seven years has made Celine a house with a formidable foundation for the future.” No successor has been announced.

Slimane became artistic, creative and image director of Celine in February 2018, after Phoebe Philo’s departure. He was previously artistic director of menswear at Yves Saint Laurent until 2000, when he joined Dior Homme. This is where he created the skinny silhouette that famously prompted Karl Lagerfeld to go on a diet. Slimane left Dior in 2007 and returned to Yves Saint Laurent in 2012 as creative director, where he cut “Yves” from the name immediately before his first show. He left in 2016.

At Celine, he dropped the accent over the “e” in Céline, and introduced a new logo before his first show. His debut for spring/summer 2019 (where he added menswear) received “a raucous chorus of criticism”, wrote The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan. “In a single evening, he has blown up everything that Celine was, flushed it clean. His name might not be on the label, but in every other respect, the brand might as well be called Hedi Slimane,” Givhan wrote. For autumn/winter 2019, he shifted to a bourgeois French-girl look. This time, “it was a near-unanimous oui,” Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower wrote.

At the LVMH annual earnings conference in January 2018, soon after the announcement of Slimane’s appointment, LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said: “The objective with him is to reach at least €2 billion to €3 billion, and perhaps more, within five years.” At the time, Celine’s sales were close to €1 billion. Five years later, sales reached an estimated €2.6 billion in 2023, per HSBC, making it LVMH’s third largest fashion brand after Louis Vuitton and Dior – overtaking Fendi in terms of revenue. Slimane oversaw the introduction of Celine fragrances in 2019, and make-up (initially in the form of a lipstick line) is slated to follow this autumn.

Having shied away from the press from his start at the company, Slimane more or less stopped doing live runways after the pandemic, even as other designers in the LVMH stable resumed regular shows. Although he receded from public view, his amalgam of Parisienne haute bourgeoisie and Los Angeles rocker glam remained a persuasive vision.

In December 2022, Slimane chose Los Angeles – the city where he lived and worked as Saint Laurent’s creative director – for his first physical runway since the pandemic, titled “Age of Indieness”. “If Slimane is ever going to step out with an eponymous brand, this nostalgic collection would surely be its basis,” wrote Vogue Business’s Christina Binkley.

Still standing free from the fashion calendar, in early September, he unveiled his men’s SS25 collection in the format of a 13-minute film that he directed titled The Bright Young. This past weekend, during Paris Fashion Week, he also released an SS25 film titled Un Été français. The designer sent out a tweed-heavy collection, prompting commentators to believe he’s leaving for Chanel, which has yet to appoint a new designer.

“Celine continues to make strong progress,” said Arnault during the LVMH annual general meeting in April. “Celine is chic, hip, sexy fashion for young people even if the prices are what they are, and it works. I was in Japan last week with Delphine [Arnault]. I could see that in front of the Celine boutiques, there was an incredible line, up to two hours.” Where will Slimane land in his next act? Fashion will be watching closely.

Alberta Ferretti Steps Down From Her Eponymous Brand

Alberta Ferretti is stepping down as creative director of the eponymous brand she founded in 1981, the designer announced this morning.

“On September 17th, you attended my last fashion show,” wrote the designer in a letter sent out this morning via email. “It was a difficult, complicated, but a very thoughtful choice. But today, with serenity and awareness, I inform you of my decision to leave the creative direction of the brand I founded, which bears and will continue to bear my name,” said the designer. In it, she name checks key collaborators Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Franca Sozzani and Paolo Roversi.

The show was, in hindsight, an homage to Ferretti’s signatures, with a focus on flowing chiffon gowns alongside modern daywear, presented under the colonnade of the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology.

Ferretti grew up in her family’s dressmaking shop before opening her own boutique as a teenager, where she began to create her own clothes to be sold alongside other Italian designers. She launched her label in 1981 and has remained true to its signature gentle feminine silhouettes ever since. As relevant today as she was back then, Ferretti has gone viral recently as the outfitter of the Folklore era in Taylor Swift’s eras tour.

The 74-year-old designer will remain in her role as vice president of her family business, Aeffe Group, which operates her eponymous brand alongside Moschino, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and Pollini. In her open letter, she thanks her brother Massimo Ferretti, the group chairman. Aeffe doesn’t break out individual brands, but group sales dropped nine per cent to €319 million in 2023, following the changeover of creative directors at the Moschino brand. While changes at Ferretti may cause further challenges in the short term, the designer says she will name her successor “soon”.

Hodakova’s Ellen Hodakova Larsson Wins The LVMH Prize

The 2024 LVMH Prize marked its spot on the calendar between the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that transformed Paris into a city of athleticism and exuberance, and the seasonal cycle of fashion weeks. No matter that clothes-making and brand-building are not considered sports; this competition has come to represent the apex of awards for young, international designers.

The equivalent of a gold medal went to Ellen Hodakova Larsson for her label, Hodakova, whose genuine commitment to sustainability and repurposed materials has yielded tops covered in metal spoons and skirts woven from belt buckles.

“Wow,” she said, overcome with emotion after Natalie Portman, who was an exceptional member of the jury this year, presented the award, which comes with a €400,000 (£340,000) endowment and a year-long mentorship provided by a team of LVMH experts. “I’ll do my best. I am so honoured.”

Robert Pattison showed up to announce Duran Lantink as the winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Prize, one year after receiving the ANDAM Special Prize. Often experimenting with dimension and shape, his garments feel at once kinky, kooky and non-conformist.

The big news to come out of this 11th edition: a new, dedicated Savoir-Faire Prize, which was presented by Ana De Armas and awarded to Michael Stewart of Standing Ground. The Irish designer, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in 2017 and launched his label just two years ago, creates remarkable jersey silhouettes that redefine the body through embedded beadwork and volumes.

Earlier in the day, the eight finalists – Marie-Adam Leenaerdt, Paolo Carzana, Pauline Dujancourt, Julian Louie of Aubero, and Niccolò Pasqualetti, along with Larsson, Lantink, and Stewart – presented themselves to a heavyweight jury in a closed session. Just imagine fielding a wide range of questions from eight directors of LVMH houses: Nicolas Ghesquière, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Jonathan Anderson, Silvia Venturini Fendi, Nigo, Marc Jacobs, Pharrell, and Phoebe Philo making a rare appearance. Rounding off the group were Delphine Arnault, and Jean-Paul Claverie and Sidney Toledano, both advisors to Bernard Arnault. Over lunch, they deliberated and arrived at the winner by majority.

A who’s who of industry guests, meanwhile, gathered in the soaring auditorium of the Fondation Louis Vuitton where a selection of creations from each finalist hung from two parallel white bars suspended at eye level. Up close, it was possible to get a better sense of how an Aubero jacket is composed of vintage material fragments held together under tulle or the sumptuous feel of a camel coat from Pasqualetti.

Before the winners were announced, there were short films that were captivating for their unvarnished aesthetics and sensitive voice-overs. There was a distinct sense of wanting to bring us closer into the designers’ worlds beyond displaying their clothes.

“I think we really selected people for their personality, not only for their work,” said Venturini Fendi, moments after the three awards were announced. How did these designers set themselves apart from winners in previous years? “I think they reflect the emotions that we want to see in clothes. That’s why it’s important to talk to them. You have to know who is behind the clothes. We don’t want to just buy clothes today; we want to support people who are sending a message to the world.

Chiuri, separately, made a similar point. “There’s the creativity but then the idea of what they want to build for the future, the perspective of their brand. They were all interesting, very different, but you feel that all the brands had a personal story.” She praised Stewart’s couture techniques and how Larsson is already scaling up her upcycled approach. “It’s the first time we have seen a project about sustainability that has numbers, that she sells. We want to recognise these important results.”

Having never participated in the jury, Portman was impressed by the extent to which there was a common goal towards positive impact. “I love how much [Ellen] thinks about the future and sustainability and repurposing materials. It’s really moving to see the thought that goes into these beautiful pieces.”

Both the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize and the Savoir-Faire Prize (amounting to €200,000 (£170,000 each plus mentorship) seemed like an official way to recognise two distinctive talents after two years of the Karl Lagerfeld Prize being shared by two designers. Plus, what better way to signal to future applicants that craftsmanship is not a dying pursuit.

For Delphine Arnault, who founded the Prize in 2013, this was an occasion to “represent craftsmanship, quality, sustainability and sustainable development,” she explained in an interview. “We believe that these are values that are increasingly important today and that reflect the expectations of today’s consumers. It’s also an integral part of our business. Know-how is essential, and know-how is passed down from generation to generation. So we thought it would be interesting to bring this dimension into the Prize, to reward this dimension in particular.”

About Hodakova’s winning vision, she added, “she showed us a lot of her creations around belts, for example, and she also told us all about her childhood, how she was brought up, how her mother introduced her to fashion. She told us all about the path that led her to create her brand in Stockholm. We thought she was a very interesting candidate with a lot of potential for development.”

With her father and stepmother nearby, Larsson, who is 32, sat down at a backstage table with a glass of champagne in one hand and her sculptural gold star award designed by Jean-Michel Othoniel in the other. “I think I had a feeling, but I didn’t want to trust it until it happened. I didn’t want to be disappointed, I guess,” she said. Can she now envision where she might be next year? “I’m very present and I’m moving my goals all the time, so it’s quite hard to just put a goal, but I want to see the brand develop in a way I imagine it – in a natural and good balance. I believe the infrastructure needs to have balance to sustain [itself],” she said.

Minutes later, she shared a poignant hug with Julian Louie of Aubero, while Stewart made a point of saying how this was an amazing group that supported each other. “We all wanted each other to do well.”

Here, it’s worth reminding how many finalists have gone on to thrive sans Prize; Demna and Virgil Abloh being two of the most famous examples. “It’s very nice to win a prize but it doesn’t mean the end of the world if you don’t,” said Marc Jacobs reassuringly. “So be true to thyself, to thine own self be true. Be passionate about what you do, and anything is possible. Prize or no prize, keep going.”

Anyway, they have made fans of the celebrity contingent, with Pattison, Portman, and de Armas practically placing requests. “I feel like I have a whole new list of people who I want to dress me now and want to be lucky enough to get to wear their designs. It is so fun to wear something that is completely fresh and that no one knows about yet,” said Portman, who will head from Paris to Calgary for a film.

Additional words of encouragement came from Pattinson, who admitted he was already nudging for one of the Aubero jackets. “It’s a pretty obvious thing to say but there are 2,500 people who applied for this and to be in the top eight – to see how distinctive all their identities are already. They can all talk so elegantly about their work and where it comes from.”

One interesting takeaway as the event wound down was that both Stewart and Lantink, who will soon have their runway shows in London and Paris respectively, expressed their willingness to join one of the fashion houses, and that the visibility and validation might kickstart the possibilities. “I mean, are you joking me? Of course!” Stewart said with a hearty laugh. “Then you can really, really do something. You can really put to use the teams, and I think that would be quite amazing.” Let the games begin.