5 Things We Learned From Hedi Slimane’s First Celine Interview

The elusive designer opens up

Aside from dropping the French accent from the house’s logo and debuting his first bag on Lady Gaga, Hedi Slimane has kept away from media since his appointment at Celine – elusively smart moves that makes the anticipation surrounding his debut show this Friday all the more fever pitched.

Slimane’s choice to remain silent should comes as no surprise (you can count the number of interviews he’s done in his entire career on both hands), but with a few days to go before his first collection for the French house hits the runways, the French designer sat down with Le Figaro for a rare interview.

Translated in English by the Business of Fashion, Slimane took the fashion world by surprise, letting everyone in on his inspirations, how he plans to succeed the house’s Phoebe Philo era, and his thoughts on social media—so MILLE rounded up five major things we learned from the breakthrough interview.  

A non-accented Celine will be looking to the house’s future, not its past.
“At Celine, the weight of the past is not as strong as at Dior or Saint Laurent. We can break free of it more easily.

The decision to drop the French accent from the house’s logo was designed to “shake things up”.
“When there is no debate, it means there is no opinion — the definition of blind conformity.”

While Berlin inspired his tenure at Dior, and Los Angeles underlaid his Saint Laurent days, Slimane is looking to his Parisian roots for Celine.
“Paris may be the only capital left in the world where the word flaneur still make sense. I am very attached to it.”

According to him, Trump is ruining the spirit of Los Angeles. But Slimane still remains “passionate about the myth of the West Coast”.
“Donald Trump’s election created a climate of uncertainty so strong that you cannot escape it,” he said. “[The] energy has fatally changed.”

He’s critical of social media, but doesn’t deny its power.
“Social media is a fantastic revolution and will always be a bit like the Wild West.”

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