PARIS FASHION WEEK: CELINE

 

For his FW 2023 menswear show, Hedi Slimane, creative director of Celine, opted for the famous Le Palace in Paris, which is dear to him as he spent his youth there and celebrated his 50th birthday in 2018.

Born as a ballroom in the 17th century, but also known for its years as a nightclub, considered the French version of New York’s Studio 54, Le Palace inspired Hedi Slimane to deepen his research into the rediscovery of that cultural phenomenon of the 2000s defined electro-clash.

 

A movement that appeared in big cities such as Paris, London and New York, born as a reaction to the rigid structures of techno music, with an emphasis on songwriting, showmanship and a sense of humor, but also on the way of dressing studded, thin ties and asymmetrical haircut.

 

The collection is a tribute to one of Hedi Slimane’s favorite bands, Suicide, inspirers of synth pop and industrial dance, and to Alan Vega’s psychotic voice, which recalled that of Lou Reed and Elvis Presley, which reflected what was fear and the metropolitan neurosis of those generations, so much so that they are rediscovered by today’s music bands and by young people thirsty for a reference from the past.

After all, this was exactly what we saw on the catwalk. A coherent story made of tight black leather trousers, combined with biker jackets crossed by metal fringes, trouser suits and jackets studded with gold and rhinestones. The coats are in checked wool fabric or made in thick and spotted faux fur, while the camel-colored ones are worn over leather jackets.

The bourgeois suits illuminated by lurex threads on pinstriped fabrics take on a very specific meaning of a renewable world, eliminating any form of stale appearance typical of a vintage wardrobe. Some limited edition pieces pay homage to the iconic years of Le Palace, such as the rhinestone lettering embroidered on the back of a bomber jacket.

 

An always coherent aesthetic vision that becomes the expression of a philosophy that doesn’t bow to mainstream approval, and that doesn’t bow to ephemeral fashions desired only by commercial certainties.

 

Many front-row guests from the world of cinema and music, including Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Romain Duris, Mathieu Kassovitz, Camille Razat, Suzanne Lindon, Paul Kircher, Eden Dambrine, Jane Birkin, Etienne Daho, Benjamin Biolay.