French fashion designer Hedi Slimane has announced his departure from Celine, the luxury fashion house. Slimane joined the LVMH-owned brand in 2018 as the artistic director, following his roles as creative director at Dior Homme and Yves Saint Laurent.
"Under his creative and artistic direction, Celine has experienced exceptional growth and established itself as an iconic French couture house," the fashion house stated in a recent release. "The extraordinary journey taken together over the last seven years has made Celine a house with a formidable foundation for the future."
Slimane, 56, who had no formal training in fashion, has risen through the ranks of the industry, starting as YSL’s ready-to-wear director of men's collections in 1996. In 2000, he became the creative director of Dior Homme, Christian Dior’s menswear line, where his penchant for the skinny male silhouette became his signature style. After leaving Dior in 2007, Slimane rejoined YSL in 2012 as their new creative director, a position he held until 2016.
In 2018, LVMH announced that Slimane would succeed Phoebe Philo as creative director of Celine. Philo had spent a decade in the role, but Slimane swiftly made significant changes, including dropping the accent from the original brand name “Céline” in a logo redesign and altering the entire fashion house’s aesthetic. These changes proved successful, as Celine nearly doubled its revenue over a five-year period.
With Celine at a commercially successful peak, Slimane steps down without an announced successor. Although his contract was due for renewal, the fashion world has been rife with rumors of his imminent departure for months. Potential candidates for the role include Virginie Viard, who left her creative director position at Chanel earlier this year, and Pierpaolo Piccioli, who departed Valentino after 16 years in the role this March.
