Celine just dropped its latest collection via a short film, and it’s swanning hard. Hedi Slimane’s winter 2024 offering is a study in modern glamour but also, it’s a celebration of heritage. Slimane pays tribute to his friend the photographer Richard Avedon while also honoring the legacy of Celine and its connection to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris—and marking the brand’s first-ever beauty line, also named for the monument.
Related article: LISA And Park Bo Gum Made A Splash In Bangkok For CELINE
In 1971, Céline Vipiana was driving around the Arc de Triomphe when she got into a minor crash, got out of her car, and noticed that the chain links surrounding the arch were decorated with inverted double “C”s. This emblem became a signature logo of the brand and was later reintroduced on a boxy carryall when Slimane took the helm in 2018.
This season, Slimane once again opted out of the official fashion calendar and instead filmed his collection inside iconic Art Deco buildings around Paris, including the La Salle Pleyel and La Maison de la Chimie. His designs speak to the zeitgeist’s current obsession with old-school elegance, one born during the era of Capote’s Swans and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s but updated for a younger, cooler generation.
Related article: Travel In Style With BLACKPINK’s Lisa’s Favourite Designer Bag
Little black dresses are worn with pearls, patent Mary Janes, and Mod-ish felt versions of the Gen Z-favourite Celine logo baseball hat. Instead of the effortlessly chic jeans, button-downs, and peacoats that have come to define the new era of Celine, Slimane went sleek with mini skirts and cropped jackets. He also presented a series of couture looks that play freely with shape and form–see the fluffy white pouf ball fur coat paired with matching knee-high boots.
Over the last few years, Slimane has positioned his Celine woman as someone with an edge. She does expensive grunge better than the rest but still obsesses over classic wardrobe staples. In the winter collection, he’s brought a dressier, dare we say more grown-up vibe to the Celine-verse, and it feels right for a moment in which occasionwear and daywear are becoming increasingly intertwined. This season, many designers experimented with the blend, some showing that button-down shirts are better worn backward and layered with a drapey, textural knit and a tinsel fringe skirt and others doing updated takes on the old New Look waist or focusing on volume. No classic is as it seems across the board, and Slimane played into this trend in a smart, sophisticated, and, of course, cinematic way.
This article originally appeared in Harper’s BAZAAR US.