It’s thrilling to see a designer build momentum and Michael Rider at Celine is doing exactly that. After a terrific men’s show in June – which many deemed the best of the season – he put on a stellar display of his design skills for women. Rider has quickly become the most copied designer working today with his influence seen the most in the windows of all high street fashion shops all over the world. It felt like we saw the birth of a new “Parisienne” at the Archives Nationales in the Marais. She wears round tinted sunglasses, oversized blazers cinched at waist level and the best silk shift dresses all accessorized with great bags and shoes – the engine room for any brand destined for growth – which EVERYONE is chasing in these troubled times. Add his cool Reebok collab which he unveiled in Brooklyn during NY Fashion Week, he has hit his stride from the first collection shown during Haute Couture in the rue Vivienne headquarters last year. 

While Dior, Loewe and Givenchy’s new designers still settle in, Rider has a clear formula of making real clothes where the conceptual men’s wear with its skinny pants and sculpted tops marries happily with women’s. “We don’t overthink things but we think a lot,” said the designer backstage in an elegant pavilion with a champagne buffet set up in the garden. Nothing is left to chance, the placement of each cuff around the biceps, a giant buckle golden belt or sequined hat looks like an assured gesture. Celine now owns the crossover of American sportswear with French couture elements. In a word, Rider is in the zone and knows how women want to look like tomorrow. The holy grail of fashion.

The jackets?

Rider has honed in on the elongated three button single breasted blazer, but it seems he changes proportion and cut for every look.

The vibe?

Picking archy hard-to-get-into Parisian locations is the secret sauce for Rider, but then he tops it with a white seaside pavilion look alike show space to add the dash of surprise he reserves for every outfit. “I wanted everyone to feel comfortable here, that’s all.”