Turbulence at the top of the luxury fashion houses continued today as Celine announced the departure of Hedi Slimane , “artistic, creative and image director” of the house since January 2018. It was followed, just over two hours later, by another statement which announced Michael Rider, former creative director of Polo Ralph Lauren, will be the succeeding artistic director. The news comes after months of industry murmurs about an imminent Slim-exit.
Slimane, who made skinny jeans a mainstay of the 2010s, will now head up odds as the next possible creative director at Chanel, which has been leaderless since Virginie Viard left the position in June. It’s a $20 billion question which has the industry in hysterics. Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s longstanding creative director between 1983 and his death in 2019, was famously a fan of Slimane.
It is fashion lore that Slimane was being groomed to follow in his footsteps, and would step up when the time was right. Slimane’s tenure at Dior Homme (2000 – 2007), where he was best known for the introduction of super-skinny silhouettes, caught the late fashion designer’s eye. “I suddenly wanted to wear clothes designed by Hedi Slimane,” Lagerfeld said, before losing six and half stone in the early 2000s in order to do so.
Slimane was also creative director of Saint Laurent (and behind the dropping of the “Yves” from the brand) 2012 – 2016. “The holistic vision of Hedi Slimane, his exigence and rigour have made it possi.