Putting an end to months of speculation, the House of Celine (LVMH) has confirmed the departure of its artistic and image director, Hedi Slimane, replaced by Michael Rider (ex Ralph Lauren). But the rumor mill is still in full swing: will Hedi Slimane be joining Chanel?
Hedi Slimane leaves Celine, Michael Rider arrives.
Over the past few months, the entire fashion world has agreed that relations between the LVMH group’s Maison and Hedi Slimane, its all-powerful artistic and image director since January 2018, were hanging by a thread.
It’s now confirmed.
In a press release issued on the morning of October 2, the day after its runway show (captured on video) at Paris Fashion Week, Celine announced the designer’s departure.
Arrival of Michael Rider
In a second press release, issued on the afternoon of October 2, Celine revealed the name of its replacement, as of January 2025, namely American Michael Rider, theformer creative director of Polo Ralph Lauren.
He will be “responsible for the creative direction of the House’swomen’s and men’s collections, including ready-to-wear, leather goods, accessories and couture”. The title makes no reference to image, which was part of Hedi Slimane’s job title.
Michael Rider is no stranger to the world of Celine. The designer, unknown to the general public, spent ten years, from 2008 to 2018, as design creator at Celine under Phoebe Philo. When Hedi Slimane took over, he moved back across the Atlantic to head up design at Polo Ralph Lauren. Since the end of May, he had left this position and was available for new adventures.
A graduate of Brown University, he began his career in fashion at Balenciaga, working alongside Nicolas Ghesquière.
Severine Merle, Céline’s CEO, said she was “ delighted to welcome Michael to Céline, a house he knows intimately. Michael’s vision, creative talent, authentic nature and close connection to the Céline heritage make him a natural choice to continue building lasting success for the house.”
“Celine is a house whose values are very dear to me and which has a great heritage to build on,” commented Michael Rider.
End of speculation
The announcement put an end to speculation as to who would succeed Hedi Slimane at Celine.
WWD had hit the nail on the head with Michael Rider. The names of Pierpaolo Piccioli, who has just left Valentino, Kim Jones (Fendi and Dior Homme), Riccardo Tisci (ex Givenchy and Burberry) and…Virginie Viard, former artistic director of Chanel, were also circulating…
As for Hedi Slimane’s departure, it comes as no surprise. According to the specialized media, the break-up was imminent, as Hedi Slimane’s relationship with his owner had deteriorated in recent months.
But LVMH is not ungrateful for the split.
In a press release, Celine hails its “exceptional growth” and its affirmation as “an essential French fashion house”, “under the artistic and creative direction” of Hedi Slimane. His “holistic vision, exacting standards and rigor have enabled Celine to redesign its codes while reaffirming its feminine and Parisian roots”, the press release stresses. He has also remarkably enriched the house’s territories of expression in men’s silhouettes, couture and haute parfumerie. The extraordinary road we have travelled together over the last seven years makes Celine a house with formidable foundations for the future.”
Big firsts
Indeed, after six years, Hedi Slimane is not leaving Celine in the state he found it.
Admittedly, the House founded in 1946 by Céline Vipiana and bought by LVMH in 1987, had already been revitalized under the scissors of Phoebe Philo, from 2008 to the end of 2017.
But under the leadership of Hedi Slimane and his “holistic” approach, the House really took off.
The designer has overseen a number of major firstsat Celine, including the 2019 launch of menswear and haute parfumerie collections, followed by “haute couture” pieces, and since last March, the launch of a cosmetics linewith a sophisticated lipstick. We also owe him the “Triomphe” logo it bag, launched in 2018.
But above all, with his rock approach, Hedi Slimane has succeeded in shaking things up and rejuvenating the aura of a somewhat aging Maison.
A twist that appeals to the young
After initial criticism of his very first show, which was deemed too trashy and reminiscent of his previous creations for Saint Laurent (Kering), he gentrified his style to better match the Celine DNA, while retaining that special twist that appeals so much to young people.
The nail in the coffin of this soft “revolution” had been driven home with the use of videos, rather than in situ shows, during the confinement but also afterwards, to present his latest collections in prestigious locations (the Châteaux of Chambord, Vaux-le-Vicomte or Compiègne for the latest Spring-Summer 2025 collection, the Hôtel de la Marine or BNF in Paris, The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles), or exceptional natural landscapes (Baie des Anges in Nice, Mojave desert in the USA). ..
This departure from tradition was reinforced by the organization of these presentations on dates that sometimes differed from those of the official calendar.
This modernization effort was symbolized by a final revolution, but this time in the astronomical sense (i.e., a movement of a planet that brings it back to the same point…), i.e., the return to the original spelling of the House, i.e., Celine without an accent…
Sales more than doubled
The work accomplished translates into hard cash. Between 2018 and 2022, sales doubled to 2 billion euros. By 2023, it will even reach 2.6 billion euros, according to HSBC. This would make it LVMH’s third-largest fashion house after Louis Vuitton and Dior, ahead of Fendi.
Before deploying his global approach at Celine, Hedi Slimane had already made a splash at another Lvmh Maison, Dior Homme from 2000 to 2007, then within the Kering group, at .Saint Laurent Paris, from 2012 to 2016.
After Kering and LVMH, is Hedi Slimane set to make his mark at a third major luxury group, Chanel? Will he indeed join the Maison de la rue Cambon, as rumors suggest ?
But while some of the suspense surrounding Hedi Slimane’s destiny may have been dispelled, the next step is still shrouded in mystery…
Contrary to expectations, the latest Chanel fashion show on October 1 did not reveal the successor to Virginie Viard, who left the company last June.
Suspense at Chanel
Chanel’s owners, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, were reported to have displayed their usual phlegm and silence at this latest show… and we’ll probably have to wait longer than we’d hoped.
The studio’s critically-acclaimed silhouettes for Spring-Summer 2025 have shown that it is possible to do without a creative headliner for at least an interim period.
This could be just the thing, as Hedi Slimane is known for not putting all his passions in the same basket. In addition to fashion, the designer is passionate about photography (as was the late Karl Lagerfeld) and music. And it’s said that he usually takes a sabbatical before changing Maison.
However, according to Hélène Guillaume, fashion journalist at Le Figaro, his holistic profile is not necessarily to the taste of Chanel’s owners. And the 56-year-old designer’s legendary bad temper (he also left Saint Laurent on bad terms) may also give his future employers pause for thought. Although talent does come at a price…
The Fashion Sphere may therefore have to wait a little longer before knowing the name of the new creative head of the Maison de la rue Cambon…
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Featured Photo: © Celine
