Hedi Slimane is on his third big gig in fashion after Yves Saint Laurent, Dior Homme, Saint Laurent and now Celine. While he set Saint Laurent immediately on fire with his first show, his tenure at Celine has been a slow burn as the industry as well as consumers were mourning the disappearance of Phoebe Philo who had a cult following for her Céline. Not only did Slimane take out the accent over the first e but he also changed the playbook completely making it about Parisian chic. And last night’s men’s show at the Palais de Tokyo was testament to his might as a designer. He literally brought the house down as nearly a thousand kids loitered outside to get a glimpse of his show guests. And he pulled of the feat to bring in Lisa of Black Pink whose fame and star power eclipses Madonna, Lady Gaga or Britney Spears by far. Even Bernard Arnault got up from his front row seat to catch a glimpse of the roaring crowd, clearly proud to be the owner of such a hot label. And Slimane proved that he is still up to setting the fashion agenda as well. He has embraced a more loose silhouette and most importantly the skirt and dress for men. Of course, all embroidered in gold, silver and metal. Regarding the theme of dysfunctional Bauhaus, we cannot give him full clearance but the Oskar Schlemmer shaped metallic objects that came from the ceiling before the show loosely represented the theme while the clothes did not.

The news?

Slimane has introduced the skinny suit with Dior Homme and to a certain extent, he still loves that silhouette. All his jeans and black leather pants come in cigarette shape but his jackets for this show were all roomy often even boxy; a new look for Slimane. Plus, he validated the short men’s skirt, which opened the show and the men’s dress by putting it on the runway.

The secret shtick?

Celine is now also an Haute Couture house with Parisian ateliers and Slimane lavishly embroiders, embellishes and photo prints on his garments which often has the desired vintage look but is brand new and executed with the highest level of quality.

The cast?

Looking at Oskar Schlemmer’s famous painting Bauhaustreppe, most of Slimane’s guys were featuring a bowl cut over their dark sunglasses and arrogant hands in pockets attitude.

Who would think?

Hedi Slimane likes to celebrate an anniversary. For his second Dior Homme show, he chose the then newly opened Palais de Tokyo as show venue and yesterday’s showed marked the 20^th anniversary of the Palais and Slimane’s singular influence on men’s wear.

Lisa of Black Pink sitting underneath Oskar Schlemmer inspired deco at Celine men’s S/S 2023 show