Will Hedi Slimane Do For Chanel What He Did For CELINE?
Where could Hedi Slimane go next? Some are saying that the CELINE star, the Saint Laurent sage, the dynamo of Dior Homme may be heading to... Chanel?
Slimane at Chanel is not as crazy as it sounds, though it is pretty left-field even by fashion's own standards.
In late April, fashion insiders began whispering of a "thorny contract negotiation" between CELINE's golden boy and parent company LVMH. Slimane is kind of a big deal, you know, having consistently magnified his Midas touch at various household names operated by two of fashion's largest rival conglomerates.
At CELINE, specifically, Slimane proved instrumental in growing the brand's business from $850-ish million (the estimated peak under previous head Phoebe Philo) to what analysts posit is nearly 3.27 billion.
And CELINE merely the latest example of Slimane's winning streak: his imminently wearable and perpetually popular designs always leave a label in superior financial straits. In other words, whoever hosts Slimane will be lucky to have him.
CELINE declined to comment on the Slimane rumors.
If Slimane was to leave CELINE, it would beg the question as to who could fill his shoes.
It's a surprisingly tricky ask. Although Slimane's process for overseeing a fashion house is now so familiar as to practically become routine — change the logo, emphasize menswear, revert the clothes to his preferred rock 'n roll aesthetic — his successes are rarely replicated and, at least partially due to Slimane's ardent following, heirs aren't easy to find (rumblings say a Ralph Lauren designer is in the running for CELINE).
And then what about Slimane himself? Where would he go next?
Well, Slimane has been rumored for Chanel since time immemorial.
I mean, yes, Chanel hiring rumors are practically a dime a dozen but there's actual precedence for Slimane.
It's no secret that former Chanel tsar Karl Lagerfeld was one of Slimane's many devotees and rumors of Slimane at Chanel have pinged through social media for nearly 10 years now.
In fact, the only things more consistent than Slimane's creative process are the rumors that he's taking over Chanel.
Chanel doesn't necessarily need Slimane, of course. Creative director Virginie Viard has capably lead the house to impressive 20 percent year-over-year growth and, for what it's worth, Chanel is Chanel. Regardless of the people behind the name, that sure is one powerful name.
However, Slimane does offer a tantalizing vision of what Chanel could be.
The century-old maison still doesn't offer menswear, as it's one of the rare fashion titans to stick to single-gendered collections.
Slimane, meanwhile, is a menswear monster; his co-ed collections are a key reason for CELINE's explosive growth (prior to Slimane, CELINE also exclusively offered womenswear).
But, then again, Slimane may be as likely to retire as he is to stay in the biz.
He took an extended break between his time at Dior and Saint Laurent and relaxed for two years between SLP and CELINE, focusing on his photography over fashion.
Now that Slimane is 55, perhaps he's getting tired of it all. Pretty reasonable reaction to fashion's endless churn, really.
Or perhaps Slimane will simply stay at CELINE, where has been quite happy (and tremendously successful) for over a half-decade.
