Michael Rider scores on his debut for Celine
Philophiles and Hediphiles unite! The house's new creative director presented a Celine collection that can be enjoyed both by fans of his predecessors – plus a growing number of his own, too.
American designer Michael Rider did the seemingly impossible on Sunday: uniting both Philophiles and Hediphiles in a Celine debut that even briefly paused the rain that pounded Paris immediately before and after.
Taking place at the brand’s headquarters, this was not just a return to physical showing following several digital seasons under predecessor Hedi Slimane, but a full-circle return for Rider, who had served under Phoebe Philo during her 2008 – 17 tenure at the French house. That Rider managed to nod to both is a testament not only to the codes established by the pair over 17 years (chic minimalism turned sexy tribalism), but also the incumbent’s well-intentioned joy at playing with them.
Of course, Celine didn’t begin with Philo, and Rider had plenty of fun with some of the brand’s earlier motifs, such as the Sulky and Triomphe symbols, as well as the integration of classic silk scarves (show invites were wrapped in monochrome styles).
So, too, did he imbue the mixed collection with a kind of ’80s preppiness: an homage to the Sloane Ranger or a continuation of his own recent past as creative director of Ralph Lauren? Perhaps it was a nod to the decade in which LVMH’s Bernard Arnault first purchased a portion of the former children’s shoe company, and began the lucrative transformation that would skyrocket to an estimated £2.1bn in annual sales under Slimane’s era of youthful cool.
After this showing, where Rider chooses to take the 80-year-old brand feels rather smartly open – there is plenty of space, and you would hope time, for his own vision to more stridently supplant those formidable predecessors. But in a year of debuts, few will be as unanimously warmly received as this.
