In the study of artists, one strives to identify the artist’s visual elements, how they are arranged, the balance, the focal points, the sense of movement, and how the combination provokes the viewer. And while many debate the merit of fashion communication as art, when viewing the work of Hedi Slimane at Celine, it is clear to The Impression that we are viewing the work of an artist. An artist fully in control of his medium, his message, his tools, and his purpose all exemplified masterfully in his recent Celine campaign entitled ‘The 16th Collection.’
The collection title appears to come from Paris’s 16th arrondissement home to the Hilly Passe with its stately 19th-century Haussmanian buildings, broad streets, leafy avenues, and upwardly mobile residents. The campaign diverts a tad from the color touches of his early fall campaign this time opting to catch Slimane’s Parisian bourgeoisie uprising in his signature high contrast black and white. That uprising is reflected in the expressive movements, stances, strides, devil-may-care hairstyles, and stares of models Lara Mullen & Karo Laczkowska. Slimane knows how to focus the viewer’s attention toward the hidden punk-like pensiveness looming just behind aviator lenses.
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Like the models, Slimane too is in full stride, embracing his gifts as a story creator as much as a creator of a luxury collection. The consistency of thought and understanding of the emotional touchpoints of his audience is a skill we wish many of the designer’s contemporaries would master. But like his the artist positions his subjects, Slimane stands alone.
Celine Creative Director | Hedi Slimane
Photographer/Director | Hedi Slimane
Models | Lara Mullen & Karo Laczkowska
Music | Original Soundtrack – Embrasse Moi « Les Écrans Allumés »