Another week, another salon preview event.
I scored a personal invitation to view the Spring Summer 2020 CELINE collection in Melbourne this week. It was an exclusive showing for very select clients, and of course, me.
The Melbourne CELINE store is only one of sixteen flagships worldwide, and Collins Street is the only store in Australia to carry the CELINE menswear collection, Hedi Slimane’s second ever menswear offering for the brand.
We saw a lot of runway pieces that won’t be found at many stores, and much of the product was pre order, not dropping until Jan/Feb 2020. There were two guys also invited, wearing head-to-toe CELINE and Saint Laurent. I guessed that they were in their early 20s, and I was intrigued to know more about them. But since I would never have talked to them, a sip(s) of champagne(s) and many other shiny new things kept me focussed on the task at hand.
A lot of pieces in the new collection are hand finished in silk or cotton, and the details are pure luxury, including a gold foil printed leather jacket. I was especially taken with the Teddy Souvenir ‘I HAVE NOSTALGIA FOR THINGS I PROBABLY HAVE NEVER KNOWN’ flocked satin rayon bomber collaboration with artist David Kramer. As in, I must have it.
I noticed that a lot of the cuts in the mens coats are higher, so there isn’t any bunching under the arms, you can reach your arms up without changing the shape of the jacket too much.
There was a golden thread hand sewn into a few pieces in both the mens and womens collection, adding divine detail in the dresses and accessories. I loved how the models twirled and catwalked as we instructed and photographed to our hearts delight. The got right into it and kept walking around the store posing, pretending there were cameras other than my humble iPhone. It was very sweet.
Everything in the store was designed by Hedi Slimane, including all of the furniture. The round table is solid marble and the wood block is in solid oak. Both weigh a tonne! The mirror is a single piece of highly polished brass. I wept.
In case you don’t know, Hedi Slimane was originally appointed by Yves Saint Laurent himself, to head up menswear when it was still YSL. Slimane then moved to Dior, establishing the Dior Homme line before circling back to rebrand YSL to Saint Laurent Paris, renovating the heritage brand from top to toe. Slimane then enjoyed a design hiatus for a few years, working as a photographer and other artistic endeavours before returning to fashion at CELINE when Phoebe Philo exited. He has completely reworked womenswear and now added CELINE menswear, perfume and couture lines.
Harley at CELINE Collins Street is exceptional, and I wanted to make a point of thanking him for the very kind invitation.
‘I can’t wait to dress in 100% Celine 100% of the time.’
Craig is now watching;
The Garb Wire 