Regarding the Spring/Summer 2023 Paris Men’s Fashion Week, when you see the name CELINE appear on the last day and last show of the schedule, there is an undeniable sense of excitement that arises within. What’s even more unexpected is that, after the CELINE HOMME 23 fashion show, “he” even made an appearance post-show.
This “he” is, of course, the long-unseen CELINE Creative Director Hedi Slimane.
This season, the CELINE HOMME 23 show was held at the largest contemporary creative center in Europe, the Tokyo Palace. To celebrate the museum’s 20th anniversary, Hedi Slimane made a rare appearance at Paris Men’s Fashion Week. In recent seasons, he has already departed from the fashion week schedule, opting for a more unconventional approach to presenting his collections. For him, the Tokyo Palace is not only a living space for today’s artists and a platform for emerging talents from around the world, but it also holds special significance as the location where Hedi presented the DIOR HOMME Fall/Winter 2002 show 20 years ago. As time continues to pass, this return marks an important moment as he prepares to bring the CELINE HOMME 2023 Spring/Summer collection back to the historically significant venue in Paris.
This is a rare opportunity for everyone to “reunite” with Hedi, and for Hedi to reunite with the world today. Therefore, when you see a total of 67 looks presented in the entire collection, you can probably imagine Hedi’s excitement for returning to the stage of fashion week this time.
This season, Hedi used his moment of joining Celine in 2018 as a starting point for the conversation, continuing the latest collection from the previous season. The entire collection consists of 67 looks, all with the familiar feel of the CELINE era, including Dancing Kid, TEEN KNIGHT (POEM), COSMIC CRUISER, and more. We also see suits, leather jackets, crystal coats, high-waisted trousers, fringed jackets, distressed vests, fishnet tops, as well as boots, Derby shoes, sneakers, and more. Each look is a condensed symbol of Hedi’s CELINE era – even though it has been constantly reproduced for 4 years, it continues to attract you. In January 2002, he showcased Dior Homme’s 2002 autumn show Reflexion here, specially commissioning the French electronic band Ready Made FC to produce the music. Hedi, who is accustomed to personally handling fashion, videos, music, stage, photography, and other aspects, has brought in the New York band Gustaf this season.
The brand’s post-show memo makes no mention of what makes this collection special in terms of clothing or design, which can be seen as a deliberate move; instead, it features an introduction to the band Gustaf, a thank you to renowned artist David Weiss, and a list of the team. This is typical of Hedi Slimane, as what people see is just the end result, and clothing is one of the channels through which he expresses his ideas – not to say that clothes are no longer important, but rather that he wants to share his ongoing exploration and curiosity about the new wave and the new generation.
Tokyo Palace, Hedi has always been fascinated by its architectural monuments, and there hasn’t been much change in the past 20 years, which only makes him want to pay tribute to the institution even more and remember this moment in his menswear reform. Next Tuesday local time, Hedi will turn 54, and the one he will be taking a photo with backstage is no longer Karl Lagerfeld or Yves Saint Laurent, but the one who caused a sensation throughout the venue, LISA@BLACKPINK. Fortunately, we can still see Hedi Slimane in the audience.
資料及圖片來源：Courtesy of CELINE
