The designer will start February 1 and expand the LVMH-owned label’s offering into menswear, couture and fragrance.
PARIS, France — In an announcement that took the fashion industry by surprise, LVMH announced on Sunday that Hedi Slimane is set to join Céline, starting February 1. The designer will take on the title of artistic, creative and image director, and expand the LVMH-owned label’s offering into menswear, couture and fragrance. He will show his first collection for the brand in September during Paris Fashion Week. Slimane takes over at Céline from Phoebe Philo, who announced she would be leaving the house after its Autumn 2018 presentation in March.
“I am particularly happy that Hedi is back within the LVMH Group and taking the reins of our Céline maison,” said LVMH chairman and chief executive Bernard Arnault in a statement. “He is one of the most talented designers of our time. 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.”
Slimane has a storied past at Dior Homme, a brand he singlehandledly created and built between 2000 and 2007, popularising the skinny silhouette in menswear. He left, in part, because he wanted to launch his own label, doing both men’s and women’s wear. Before his tenure at Dior Homme, the Frenchman worked at Yves Saint Laurent, to which he returned in 2012 to helm the brand’s womenswear and menswear labels.
