Photo: Courtesy of Celine
The creative director musical chairs continue: Hedi Slimane is leaving Celine after seven years at the helm, the brand confirmed Wednesday morning. He will be succeeded by Michael Rider, an alum of “Old Céline” and the former creative director of Polo Ralph Lauren women’s.
“Celine is a Maison with values very close to my heart and a beautiful heritage to build on. I am honored to come back and shape the future of the Maison together with the Celine team,” Rider said in a statement. As artistic director, he will have full creative responsibility for all Celine collections including womenswear, menswear, leather goods, accessories and couture, according to the house. His appointment takes effect in early 2025.
“Under his creative and artistic direction, Celine has experienced exceptional growth and established itself as an iconic French couture house,” Celine said of Slimane, in a press release. “The holistic vision of Hedi Slimane, his exigence and rigour have made it possible to redefine the codes of Celine whilst reaffirming its feminine and Parisian roots.” Slimane’s last Celine collection, Spring 2025, was released this week digitally.
Slimane joined the LVMH-owned brand in 2018, succeeding Phoebe Philo as creative director. He swiftly made a pretty drastic change: He removed the accent from the first “e” in Celine (thus creating a clear Old Céline/New Celine divide). Stylistically, he brought his very specific look — already established from his work at Dior Homme and Saint Laurent — to the French house, making square-neck cropped jackets, slim-fit jeans, slouchy blouses and slinky mini dresses, modeled primarily on thin bodies, the Celine uniform.
Slimane exerted great creative control over the imagery the brand released. (A photographer himself, he would shoot most of the campaigns, lookbooks and films.) He’s famously reclusive, not doing many interviews and preferring to present collections off-calendar, off the runway. Still, the business grew enormously under his creative leadership, exceeding €2 billion in annual sales, according to Business of Fashion. It introduced menswear and perfume during his tenure, and recently announced a beauty line launching in early 2025.
Photo: Robert Smith/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Despite a successful run, Business of Fashion reported that the designer had been “engaged in a thorny contract negotiation” with LVMH in the months leading up to his exit. Then, WWD learned that the conglomerate had teed up Rider as Slimane’s rumored successor. (Lauren Sherman reported in Line Sheet that Rider left Ralph Lauren in May.)
Now with Rider’s appointment confirmed, this actually signifies a return for the designer: He worked under Philo as the brand’s ready-to-wear design director from 2008 to 2018. Prior to that, he got his start in fashion working at Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquiere.
“I am delighted to welcome Michael back to Celine, a Maison that he knows intimately,” Severine Merle, Celine’s CEO, said in a statement. “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.”
As for what Slimane’s departure means for his famous muses? The writing was on the wall when Blackpink‘s Lisa began wearing a lot of Louis Vuitton lately, followed by an official ambassadorship announced this July. Now all eyes are on Rider to see what celebrity relationships he creates while in his new position.
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Source: Fashionista.com
