Celine F/W 2023.24 Los Angeles

[PierreGotha]

Phoebe's Celine was indeed a force in its tenure. It's significant, brand propelling and I for one will miss it.
However what Hedi did is basically what he do best. The continuation of his Vision and adapt it to the current times. Prolifically in the Menswear category. Phoebe's womenswear is stronger, yet it targets a much more specific clientele compared to Hedi's.

 

[volft]

Not that I consider myself as a Philophile but I think Slimane fans are somehow pushing that philophiles obsessions…As if there was a war. I feel like from Bottega Veneta to The Row, they have moved on.

I have to agree with you. I feel like Hedi's work shouldn't be compared with Phoebe...unfortunately that was not the narrative set from the beginning. The Philophiles were literally obsessed with taking him down, it was all very laughable at how transparent they were. The real Philophiles would be able to spot all the Hedi designs that are clearly based off of Phoebe's work. Hedi has been using a lot of Phoebe's designs as a base to build on, so his work isn't really a total departure.

There's the Philophile customer and the online performative Philophile, and I think they're quite different. The first group is more pragmatic and actually support Phoebe by voting with their wallets. They left without making such a fuss online. The second group are the ones who makes the fuss but likely doesn't financially support Phoebe as much as the first group. They voice their outrage because they feel that Hedi's design philosophy is wrong. The first group has moved on, the second group hasn't. The second group feels like it is their duty to stop the injustice that is Hedi.

And for the most part, people are critiquing the show and they are met with arguments regarding revenues and personal people’s buying decisions.

I can appreciate the idea of judging the show in a vacuum, and it was probably the best way to judge a show when they were meant to be art for art's sake, but I'm not sure that's the best way to judge Hedi's shows. I feel like to properly judge Hedi's output is to understand why he does what he does. To be fair, Hedi often does the "show, not tell" approach, so people don't really have a lot of context. I feel like it is important to understand who Hedi wants to speak to, in order to understand why he does what he does. Understanding how the fashion show fit into their grand plan will help understand why it was executed the way it was.

I can't help but feel that if the numbers weren't doing well, it would be brought up constantly as a way for people to use to validate why his work is not good. Before the stats were brought up, people who were criticizing Hedi already assumed the worst without any evidence to back up their thoughts.

 

[LadyJunon]

^^
Not that I consider myself as a Philophile but I think Slimane fans are somehow pushing that philophiles obsessions…As if there was a war. I feel like from Bottega Veneta to The Row, they have moved on.

The success of Hedi should be celebrated on it own…

I know. I'm a Philophile personally, but I've always accepted that Céline/Celine can and will exist beyond her (I learnt that lesson the hard way with Balenciaga).

It just that any adult who can burst into a fit of rage because camel coats were replaced by black minidresses and tuxedos is a unredeemable fool in my eyes.

 

[volft]

I think think focusing on the youth is a sure way to always have a fanbase that won't die off or already have too much clothes in their closets.

Here's a glimpse to who Hedi might be inspired by, and who might be a part of championing the new indie revival:


Sunnaya was spotted in the Wiltern bathroom apparently:

 

[Mutterlein]

Comparing Slimane and Philo is neither useful or interesting.

They both used this rather heritage-less brand to imprint their own design sensibility and vision. It became what they chose to make it.

The fact that it's called "Celine" is really almost secondary.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

Also I think it is different and doesn't has the same shock value to be angertained by, but if Demna can be crucified... Hedi better watch out lol. I remember one Loic video where he was quickly interviewing these presumably teenage boys outside the Celine show that Hedi flew out from LA and one was just like a bag boy that Hedi met at a grocery store. Odd behavior for someone at 50! Get a grip

 

[Jacque Marcel]

Those large bags are hideous. But I do like the finale gowns. He is certainly committed to his vision for the brand.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

source: theimpression.com

 

[susseinmcswanny]

source: theimpression.com

 

[susseinmcswanny]

source: theimpression.com

 

[LadyJunon]

Also I think it is different and doesn't has the same shock value to be angertained by, but if Demna can be crucified... Hedi better watch out lol. I remember one Loic video where he was quickly interviewing these presumably teenage boys outside the Celine show that Hedi flew out from LA and one was just like a bag boy that Hedi met at a grocery store. Odd behavior for someone at 50! Get a grip

Holy sh*t. I didn't even think about that.

That's one of the aspects of why I dislike established designers doing street casting (beyond having the budget to afford better the whole "picking people of the street to become models" thing can read as very shady.

I don't think that this was with any malicious intent, but it can easily be read as such, especially with a 50-something gay designer and a 18 - 19 year old boy.

Knowing that LVMH is probably very proud of their poised, well-behaved, respectful image, the Galliano crisis has probably created a sort of "FIRE, WIPE, BURN" protocol the second anything crucifiable arises from one of their designers.

 

[volft]

I remember one Loic video where he was quickly interviewing these presumably teenage boys outside the Celine show that Hedi flew out from LA and one was just like a bag boy that Hedi met at a grocery store.

I do wonder if Celine provides the plane ticket and accommodation for people they invite to the shows. I can't help but feel like the boys weren't entirely forthcoming when they were answering Loic. Something about them made me feel like they were trolling him, but I might just be too cynical.

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxXLHZ0Ok1Wr3pTh3lQ4LZeW9RVuCWIdiT

 

[tourbillions]

if a collection needs a whole essay for validation, it probably wasnt that good.

Walking in the stores i was surprised at the price points of their crossbody bag when it was looking like a coach bag with the new logo. i would have rather gone for a bottega casette

 

[volft]

I feel like Mary captures exactly why the people appreciate Hedi's design philosophy:

 

[tricotineacetat]

To make another comparison with the world of music, my frustration with Hedi Slimane is a bit that of a band producing more or less the same album for decades and keeping stuck in that caricature, with little willingness to experiment and curiosity to take their developed aesthetic and take it in a direction unknown as of then. You don't have to revolutionalize, but most great artists at least produced great B-Sides to their major releases that show you an unexpected sides, or will have made an album here and there that will be more on the experimental side to mix it all up from time to time. I'm all in for consistency compared to aggressive fashionable statements, but I feel Hedi's statement of saying that you have to stick to one perceived caricature of yourself (which he narrows down to skinny indie-ness) is more of a sad clichee and a refusal to even try - As a past buyer, I do know his most 'radical' pieces were the ones most sought-after who are today fetching high prices on the re-sale market, so why not give those clients a bit more than the classic staples they already have?

 

[volft]

To make another comparison with the world of music, my frustration with Hedi Slimane is a bit that of a band producing more or less the same album for decades and keeping stuck in that caricature, with little willingness to experiment and curiosity to take their developed aesthetic and take it in a direction unknown as of then.

Personally, I see Hedi's Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Pour Homme, Dior Homme, Saint Laurent, Celine, and Celine Homme to be significantly different from each other if we really zoom in. And although both Hedi and the media spin the narrative that his style is skinny only, Hedi has definitely shown more than skinny silhouettes at Dior Homme, Celine, and Celine Homme. I think Hedi is intentionally misleading people and just going with the narrative, that he can't correct, for simplicity.

Dior Homme:






Celine:

Celine Homme:

Source: Vogue

 

[Overindulgence]

After giving myself a few days, I'll say that this was a solid collection. At first, I was taken aback by how nostalgic it was (only the skinny jeans) - but the inspiration and motive are all so honest and apparent that now I appreciate it. The show has honestly influenced me to try and incorporate more classic pieces into my wardrobe and some of my girl friends who also attended the show are already shopping for oversized 2000's-esque bags to carry on their elbow. I'm curious to see how the Celine Homme show will be since the menswear in this show was much more Celine rather than CELINE HOMME (distinction pointed out by volft).

In regards to those young guys in the Loic video, they're male models who were part of the show (or back up models) and they definitely seemed like they were trolling. The grocery store clerk guy is look #9 in the S/S 2020 menswear show and you can see hair clips in the other guy's hair. I believe they were/are models signed to Tomorrow Is Another Day Agency. And the grocery clerk kid made no mention about Hedi scouting him at the grocery store and flying him out.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

Holy sh*t. I didn't even think about that.

That's one of the aspects of why I dislike established designers doing street casting (beyond having the budget to afford better the whole "picking people of the street to become models" thing can read as very shady.

I don't think that this was with any malicious intent, but it can easily be read as such, especially with a 50-something gay designer and a 18 - 19 year old boy.

Knowing that LVMH is probably very proud of their poised, well-behaved, respectful image, the Galliano crisis has probably created a sort of "FIRE, WIPE, BURN" protocol the second anything crucifiable arises from one of their designers.

I have no comment on his intentions but that's just always been his MO for a very long time. And everyone knows it. That's who he is interested in. I guess nobody's really cared to light the match by now or maybe it's just not as strong in the forms of intoxication by revelation like Balenciaga's cabal was. But if you wanna read about him being a creep just go on google lol. Here's a fun little blurb on an issue he did for Dazed a while back.

 

[volft]

I guess nobody's really cared to light the match by now or maybe it's just not as strong in the forms of intoxication by revelation like Balenciaga's cabal was. But if you wanna read about him being a creep just go on google lol. Here's a fun little blurb on an issue he did for Dazed a while back.

I'm not sure I see what you're insinuating. Although it is hard to look at Hedi's true intentions, his work does not give off any creepy feeling at all to me. The overwhelming feeling I get from his photographs is him depicting asexual angels. It doesn't feel exploitative at all, unlike the Balenciaga campaign. He comes across as wanting to photograph the young people he believes in and want to cast a spotlight on. I think youth is so attractive to Hedi because it represents unlimited potential. It is like how once someone becomes an adult, they're no longer able to be "free". They become set in their ways and static.

“Youth has always been at the heart of everything I’ve undertaken and created. I am very sensitive to that form of freedom and expression."

I have always photographed, documented and dressed the youth. It’s been at the heart of everything I’ve done so far, in photography and fashion. It reigns on my catwalks, house after house. This recurrent millennial term, used in a way of a business school lesson, described with statistics and numbers, is boring. The youth before was no less interesting and engaged as this one, and the youth after will be just as important. It’s as if we have just discovered the tenuous and fundamental link between youth and fashion or the link between youth and music. This makes perfect sense, with or without the Internet and social media. Youth is gracefulness, freedom of speech and recklessness. Youth, at the same time, can be on the lions on the grand boulevards, in the cellars of Saint-Germain and in the occupied lecture halls of the Sorbonne. I think about "Tricheurs" by Marcel Carné and the "Chansons d’Amour" by Christophe Honoré. All the youths of the world are different and yet they are alike. No matter the time in history, they are this pure energy, the exaltation of every moment and the emotion of the skin, living their lives at full speed.

 

[Kimihiro]

I have no comment on his intentions but that's just always been his MO for a very long time. And everyone knows it. That's who he is interested in. I guess nobody's really cared to light the match by now or maybe it's just not as strong in the forms of intoxication by revelation like Balenciaga's cabal was. But if you wanna read about him being a creep just go on google lol. Here's a fun little blurb on an issue he did for Dazed a while back.

Not implying anything but I find it funny that they titled that ‘Hedi Slimane’s Favorite Teenagers’. Add to that his penchant for ‘boy safari’.