At his Celine catwalk show on Friday night, the designer Hedi Slimane distilled what looks to be the most compelling trend of this season of fashion shows. Working title: rock’n’roll bourgeois.
Slim knee-length dresses were worn with slinky chain belts; towering platform sandals with sensible 40-denier semi-sheer tights; slim bootcut velvet trousers worn with Princess-line above-the-knee coats. This was a masterclass in Parisian allure: take one part Avenue Montaigne privilege, and mix with one part backstage pass. Shaken, not stirred.
Slimane, never one to play by the fashion rulebook, was indisposed to backstage interviews, but the genesis of shrunken velvet jackets, tweed short suits, glittered dresses and faux-fur jackets brought together ideas from the Almost Famous costume department with elements that recalled the Yves Saint Laurent archive. The backstory of the Celine label also made itself felt, in the revival of the equestrian-themed Sulky handbag.
The show came at a high-pressure moment for Slimane. His predecessor at the brand, Phoebe Philo, is widely rumoured to be about to launch her next project – the cultural and commercial success of which will unavoidably be a yardstick for Slimane.