Hedi Slimane leaves Celine

Celine and Hedi Slimane parted ways after a fruitful collaboration that lasted seven years.

Celine's father, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, announced his departure in a brief statement.

“Under his creative and artistic supervision, Celine has experienced exceptional growth and established itself as an iconic French fashion house,” the statement read.

She continued: “Hedi Slimane's comprehensive vision, requirements and rigor made it possible to redefine Celine's codes while reaffirming its feminine and Parisian roots.” “He has also significantly enriched new areas of the house such as men's design, haute couture and fine fragrances. The extraordinary journey we have taken over the past seven years has made Celine a house with a tremendous foundation for the future.

Celine declined to comment further, including regarding the succession plan, as Suleiman did.

This development adds to the climate of creative uncertainty and turmoil hanging over the industry, which is currently grappling with a slowdown in luxury consumption and consumer caution.

As reported, the employment contracts of John Galliano at Maison Margiela, Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, and Lucy and Luke Mayer at Jil Sander will expire before the end of the year or in early 2025, according to market sources. There are also creative vacancies at Chanel, Dries Van Noten and Jean Paul Gaultier.

WWD broke the news on April 24 that Celine was preparing for a potential exit for Slimane and was lining up a potential successor to Polo Ralph Lauren's creative director Michael Ryder.

It will mark a return to Celine for Ryder, who spent a decade as design director of ready-to-wear from 2008 to 2018, working under then-creative director Phoebe Philo.

It is understood that Ryder has already moved to Paris, but has remained out of the public eye. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

Slimane's departure comes just three days after he revealed his Spring 2025 women's collection for Celine through a 10-minute film that was broadcast on the brand's website and social media channels.

It reaffirmed Slimane's reputation as a great fashion designer, filmmaker, and dream maker, able to crystallize a style and deliver compelling, precise, perfect images.

His all-female ensemble brought to life late French singers and fashion icons Juliette Greco and Françoise Hardy with thick bangs, heavy eyeliner, doll dresses and elegant tuxedos.

Meanwhile, his latest wool jackets, tweed suits, long necklaces and knee-length skirts have reinforced an industry-wide belief that Slimane has the chops, aesthetic and vision to take on Chanel, which is currently searching for a successor to Virginie Viard.

Chanel executives told WWD this week that they're not yet ready to reveal their next creative leader — and that they're not necessarily looking for a big-name designer.

Slimane cemented his reputation – and influenced men's tailoring for more than a decade – as a designer for Dior Homme between 2000 and 2007. He continued to reinvent and reignite the Kering-owned house of Yves Saint Laurent, which he renamed Saint Laurent, between 2000 and 2007. 2012 and 2016 – while maintaining a close relationship with the Arnault family, which controls LVMH and Dior.

His next step cannot be known immediately. He certainly has a track record of revamping the brand and then leaving it at the height of its success.

In between, he also took long vacations to pursue photography and art.

When Slimane took the design reins at Celine, with the task of expanding the heritage brand into menswear, high fashion and fragrances, he took a different path from its previous creative leader, English designer Phoebe Philo.

“I'm fascinated, what a great choice,” Karl Lagerfeld, one of Slimane's most ardent fans, told WWD magazine at the time of his appointment. “It's going to be great.”

Slimane immediately brought a wave of cool and youth to Celine, signing up Blackpink's Lalisa Manobal and forcing her to walk in one of his group's films during the coronavirus pandemic.

When she attended Celine's Spring 2023 men's show with BTS member Kim Tae-hyung, known as V, and his best friend, actor Park Bo-gum, pandemonium ensued.

After some aesthetic tweaks, and after Slimane spotted the Triomphe logo, Celine took off like a rocket, synonymous with cool French girl style with a bourgeois twist.

He meticulously built Celine into an entire universe, adding stationery, headphones, pet accessories, other lifestyle products and Celine Beauty, the first cosmetics line in the house's history. Lipstick has been added recently and eyeliner will be released next.

The beauty line coincided with Slimane's launch of her high-end perfume line Celine, which debuted in 2019.

However, it is understood that relations between Slimane and LVMH management have become increasingly tense.

However, it appears that Slimane has been working hard to see the end of his contract, as last week he released a 445-page hardcover book titled “The Art of Celine Project,” which details 250 site-specific artworks that Slimane has curated for top brands around the world.