16 December, 2022

Hedi Slimane’s ‘age of indieness’ returns for Celine AW23

“You can only be lucky enough to have one style, a style of your own that becomes a caricature of you, your own ‘sound. I’m probably synonymous [with] punk rock and indieness in fashion, beside being known for my androgynous models. I have been precisely this in fashion for more than 20 years. This is the caricature I gladly own.”
Hedi Slimane

Proof that if you just stand still and do your thing, fashion eventually catches up with you, Hedi Slimane is once again haute stuff. With revenue doubled since his arrival, Slimane’s recent LA Celine AW23 show (part fashion show, part ‘indie sleaze’ rock concert) unapologetically brought his own greatest hits front and centre. Now certified ‘New Celine’ signatures, he showed girls with tight jeans tucked into stack-heeled boots; the perfect bourgeois blazer; boys suited and booted in slim tailoring and patent leather; messy centre-parted bobs and Patti Smith-worthy narrow silk scarves for all.

For Slimane, the throwback styling is part of a yearning for a pre-digital era that right now feels like a safe space. “September 2001 changed everything – the dynamic, our belief that all was possible. From that moment of mourning and despair, I lost faith in a certain digital utopia which was at the heart of the creative energy and sound in Europe at the time. I went back to analog in both photography and design, and to DIY, and developed a style around it,” he said of his ‘age of indieness’ nostalgia.

Having emerged from a brief post-lockdown maximalist era, some are sensing a return to timeworn classics, albeit with some rock-n-rebellion swagger. To that point, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the likes of Harry Styles pivot to this Jagger-lite look (the gold suit!) as a departure from Alessandro Michele-era kitsch-schtick Gucci.

To be continued…

WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Celine AW23
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here

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