CELINE SS25 Is a Period Piece
It might be 2024, but CELINE's Spring/Summer 2025 menswear collection throws it back to the 1920s.
Helmed by French designer Hedi Slimane, CELINE put on a 13-minute SS25 runway show that was a stylistic homage to a bygone era of English dress, executed in true period piece fashion.
Aptly titled The Bright Young (a term used to describe Britain's social elite of the time), the collection is a couture time machine filled with nods to 20th century military uniform tradition, English gardens, and Anglomania.
There were also a lot of deer.
Herds of these grass grazers open up a video capturing the collection, creating a visually stunning scene before any models come into view.
French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau's Les Indes Galantes — the same music played for Queen Elizabeth II during her first official visit to France in 1957 — set the auditory tempo for the presentation, immersing viewers in the upper echelon of the time.
We’re then whisked off to alternating views of the groomed courtyard runway, as the shots switch from black and white to full-color footage, an optical contrast between the present moment and the storied inspiration of the collection.
As for the clothes: The roaring '20s and English suiting find a sartorial love child in the threads of pinstriped blazers, matching trousers, and pocket carnations. Less Great Gatsby, more The Windsors. Other pieces — like waistcoats, cardigans and gray slacks — reference F. Scott Fitzgerald circa 1922.
A longtime fan of British anthropology, Slimane's commitment to the era extends to the very threads of the clothing. Literally. The canvas-made tailoring of The Bright Young collection was crafted from English cloth from the 1920s. If that's not committing to the bit, then what is?
However, Slimane still managed to add his signature rockabilly touch to the collection with a classic leather jacket. Dropped into a range touting capes, canes and top hats, it was quite the visual contrast.
Slimane's focus this season on preppy, elegant classics may be the perfect segue for Michael Rider, formerly of Ralph Lauren, to make his entrance. As rumors swirl regarding Slimane's future at CELINE, Rider has emerged as a frontrunner — and his résumé certainly fits with the house's most recent foray.
