The most controversial brand of the last decade came to the fashion pedestal at the end of 2008, thanks to creative director Phoebe Philo. For several years, each collection of Celine fell in love with the public, but at the end of January 2018 everything changed: Edi Slimane came to the post of creative director. His appearance was legendary and stunned fans of the brand, but also sparked even more interest in the LVMH concern. We figure out how Celine managed to gather such overwhelming interest around itself and why the brand will never be the same.
How it all began?
Celine was founded in 1945 in Paris by a woman named Celine Vipiana. Together with her husband, she opens a boutique at 52 rue de Malte called “Celine, le bottie pour enfants”, where at the very beginning they sold handmade children’s shoes. The boutique has become one of the most popular in the city; some have even compared it to Mademoiselle Chanel’s boutique. Following children’s shoes, there are female and male models. Among the brand’s customers were royalty, including Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Carolina. The reason for the success was high-quality products combined with highly original designs. 10 years after the founding of the brand, the first fashion show of the company was organized at l`Ecole de l`Opera. The company launched a small advertising train, on the roof of which there was a baby elephant holding a small shoe, which soon became the main symbol of the brand. The first female models in the brand’s collection appear in 1959. These were branded moccasins.The corporate logo in the form of a chariot appears in the company in 1967. The choice of such a badge of the brand is due to the fact that the main material for making shoes was soft pony skin. In 1967, the Celine company mastered a new area of fashion – sportswear. The first collection of which was very popular and was called Couture Sportswear.
A few years later, Celine’s debut pret-a-porter collection will be released. The woman who dresses Celine prefers an active lifestyle, but at the same time sophisticated and feminine, who prefers refined things, this is how Madame Vipiana characterized her clients. Celine’s profits skyrocketed in the 70s when the brand’s collections hit the markets of Japan, Switzerland, Italy, and Russia. The increase in production is also due to the merger with the LVMH Group (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), the world’s largest supplier of luxury goods. During this period, the brand’s first signature fragrance, Magic, was also released, and the demand was overwhelming.
Сreative directors’ battle
In 1997, a young American fashion designer Michael Kors became the brand’s art director. It was thanks to him that Celine began manufacturing products for men. This greatly increased the popularity of the French brand. In 2004, Michael Kors was replaced by Roberto Menichetti.
Then this place was taken by a female designer from Croatia named Ivana Omazic. Prior to that, she created collections for the Miu Miu brand. In 2008, the British fashion designer Phoebe Philo, who became famous for creating excellent casual wear, began to successfully create Celine collections. Celine brand products are called “Parisian luxury available to everyone.” These are luxury goods that have low prices for their class.
The arrival of Hedi Slimane in 2018 to replace Phoebe Philo at Celine became one of the most talked-about fashion events. The brand change began with Edie archiving all posts on his official Instagram account. Then he removed the apostrophe from the brand logo. This caused a storm of indignation from Celine fans. Many changes took place in the collections of the brand under the guidance of Edi. Many accept these changes with indignation, and many even like the rocky touch in the Celine brand aesthetics.
Who is she – girl – Celine now?
In spite of everything, the girl – Celine will always remain Parisian, but with renewed energy – she listens to rap and hip-hop, choosing comfort and practicality.
