After a year of musical chairs in fashion, September is gearing up to be one of its biggest show months ever: with debut collections slated from new creative directors at brands including Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and ex-Balenciaga designer Demna at Gucci.
On Sunday in Paris, Michael Rider, who recently succeeded Hedi Slimane at Celine, decided to get a head start.
In an amuse-bouche for how he plans to shape the brand’s future, Rider showed a mixture of men’s and womenswear.
The show took place at the brand’s sprawling atelier, a short hop from the Tuileries Garden. Guests included the actor Naomi Watts and, fresh from 18 months of South Korean military service, Kim Taehyung, from the K-pop band BTS, who attempted to shelter from the rain under a giant silk foulard that had been erected above a courtyard.
It was a full-circle moment for Rider, an American designer who previously worked under Phoebe Philo during her tenure at the brand from 2008 to 2017.
While fans of her work, known as “Philophiles”, had hoped Rider would reinstate that era of louche tailoring and minimalism, his opening looks quickly curtailed such expectations.
Instead of oversized silhouettes, there was a series of skinny jeans and even skinner trousers, hugging calves so tightly they should have come with a circulation warning.
These lean silhouettes were a nod to his predecessor, Slimane, who honed his signature sharp-edged style during his stints at Saint Laurent and Dior Homme before introducing it to Celine.
Despite initial criticism, Slimane proved lucrative for Celine’s parent company LVMH. According to analysts, he was estimated to have doubled Celine’s annual sales to €2.5bn (£2.1bn), transforming it into LVMH’s third-largest brand, behind Louis Vuitton and Dior. However, in October, he resigned amid rumours of failed contract negotiations.
It’s now up to Rider to pick up that moneyed baton.
Rider’s appointment comes at a difficult time in the fashion industry, with a significant slowdown across luxury markets (for the first quarter of 2025, LVMH reported a 4% sales drop across fashion and leather goods).
At the annual general meeting in April 2024, LVMH’s chief executive, Bernard Arnault, said: “Celine is chic, hip, sexy fashion for young people even if the prices are what they are, and it works.”
Rather than wiping the slate clean during this period of uncertainty, it appears that Rider is set on evolving on the brand’s existing tried and tested formula.
Speaking backstage after the show, Rider said he “did not want there to be a sense of erasure”, adding that “there was a foundation to build on. That to me felt modern, it felt ethical, it felt strong.”
Rider balanced this homage to the past by intertwining it with his own fashion story. There were nods to his American roots and recent stint as design director of Polo Ralph Lauren, with punchy, coloured knitted V-neck jumpers, neat Oxford shirts and striped ties. Simple evening looks in black including an off-the-shoulder dress and satin-lapelled blazers seemed to subtly recall his previous time at Celine.
Accessories, which are easier for luxury brands to shift than a £5k coat, were a focus. Models’ fingers came covered in multiple gold and primary coloured rings. Chunky bangles were stacked on forearms. Giant chain link necklaces were mishmashed. Keyrings jingled with everything from dice to miniature Eiffel Towers.
Rider said he wanted to inject an element of fun. “I would never want to be perceived as cynical. Having a sense of humour in the luxury space is a beautiful thing,” he said.
Bags ranging from colossal woven baskets and enormous leather totes to dainty pouches were emblazoned with logos ranging from a simple C to a “Triomphe” monogram, first created by the house’s founder Céline Vipiana in 1971.
Rider said he was drawn to a logo’s fluid nature. “They can move from something really tasteful to quickly something that is very different from that. They can be many things.”