LVMH Hopes Hedi Slimane Will Triple Profits At Céline

Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH, has high hopes for his latest appointment: Hedi Slimane at Céline.

“The objective with him is to reach at least two billion to three billion euros, and perhaps more, within five years,” Arnault told reporters at LVMH’s Paris headquarters on Thursday. “Everything is in place for this brand to achieve quite exceptional growth.”

Currently Céline sits just below Fendi on LVMH’s brand leaderboard, with profits close to one billion euros in 2017. If Slimane lives up to Arnault’s “global superstar” hype, he will have to triple the brand’s profits at the French house. During Slimane’s four-year tenure at Saint Laurent he propelled the brand past one billion euros in sales.

Arnault's comments chime with the official announcement of Slimane’s appointment as artistic, creative and image director of Céline on January 21. "I am particularly happy that Hedi is back within the LVMH Group and taking the reins of our Céline Maison,” he said. “I have been a great admirer of his work since we collaborated on Dior Homme, which he launched to global critical acclaim in the 2000s. His arrival at Céline reinforces the great ambitions that LVMH has for this Maison.”

Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior are currently the top two profit drivers within the LVMH stable.