It’s been almost one year since Hedi Slimane took over the reins at Celine, and from a polarising debut to an AW19 curveball, the Spring/Summer 2020 runway saw Hedi’s sartorial arc find steadiness in his new protagonist — the stylish young Parisienne who came of age during the ‘70s.
In classic Hedi form, the collection hammered home one clear wardrobe of French bourgeoisie style, for which the pièce de résistance was a pair of true-blue boot cut jeans. This season, they returned with a slightly looser cut and dominated 24 out of 63 looks involving blazers, peasant tops, fur coats and even college crewneck sweaters. Other motifs of past season reappeared with more bohemian ease — pussy-bow blouses, printed prairie frocks, pleated midi skirts and culottes saw more texture, movement and attention to pattern and embroidery. And while Hedi’s classic gold lamé and sequin numbers did return for the finale, their more pared-back appeal was almost office-appropriate. In essence, this collection was textbook Hedi in that what it lacked in novelty was made up for in pure desirability.
Editor
Joanna Fu