fashion

Hedi Slimane Is Joining Céline

Hedi Slimane. Photo: Handout/Getty Images

Designer Hedi Slimane, previously of Dior Homme and Saint Laurent, is joining Céline as its new artistic, creative, and image director, WWD reports. He will start February 1 at the French house, where he will lead the brand into men’s wear, couture, and fragrance.

Slimane is taking the reins from Phoebe Philo, who announced she was leaving the LVMH-owned label last December. He will unveil his first fashion proposition for men and women at Paris Fashion Week next September, and Céline’s men’s boutiques are expected to open as early as 2019.

“I’m delighted to join Bernard Arnault in this all-embracing and fascinating mission for Céline,” Slimane said in a statement. “I greatly look forward to returning to the exciting world of fashion and the dynamism of the ateliers.”

Arnault, chair and CEO of LVMH, reciprocates the designer’s sentiments, as he believes Slimane to be “one of the most talented designers of our time.”

“I am particularly happy that Hedi is back within the LVMH Group and taking the creative reins of our Céline maison,” Arnault told WWD. “I have been a great admirer of his work since we collaborated on Dior Homme, which he launched to global acclaim in the 2000s. His arrival at Céline reinforces the great ambitions that LVMH has for this maison.”

Designer Hedi Slimane Is Joining Céline