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Just in case the Celine collection had not sent out a clear message, Creative Director Hedi Slimane’s third collection spelt it out: “Celine Art Project” read every page of the otherwise empty book handed out to the audience. (In 2018, Hedi insisted on removing the accent on the first “e”.)

There was a line-up of cool kids walking the wide runway to the repetitive beat of the Los Angeles girl trio, Automatic, singing ‘Calling It’.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B27SiUSnjwW/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=dlfixThe Celine young woman had changed her school from Saint Laurent (Slimane’s former post), but not her uniform.

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The casual clothes on the sexy side, with shapely tailored navy jackets, put a focus on body-conscious jeans. The models burst out of what looked like a burning entrance (was the school on fire?) and walked purposefully down the long runway.

The other look was a lightweight, very vaguely-hippy dress ending at mid-calf – all the better to show knee-high suede boots.

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With stubborn determination, Hedi continued to offer variations on limited basics, changing sleek into furry tops but still focusing on denim.

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Who is his woman? She is Mademoiselle Gen Z, the post-Millennial, turning 20 in 2020.

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Or rather, she dressed like her birth date was in the 1970s and her wardrobe was filled with the cinched-in jackets and mid-length skirts from a fashion period where the style was recognisably French, even “Parisienne”. (It was also a look introduced by Yves Saint Laurent, where Hedi is famous for turning YSL elegance into a backstreet Los Angeles look.)

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That was another story. But not entirely, for the LVMH-owned Celine is hoping to build the company into a major brand. The elements are already there, from scarves – twisted around the head, not neck – to wide-brimmed straw hats.

Hedi’s skill is taking these objects, fashionable in another era, and deploying them to re-boot Celine.