Celine: Michael Rider’s debut campaign causes stir under Hedi Slimane’s watchful eye

Under normal circumstances, amid the runway marathon (New York Fashion Week began on September 15), Celine‘s first campaign under its new creative director, Michael Rider, would likely have slipped under the radar. But a message in the form of a friendly warning, posted a few days ago by his predecessor, Hedi Slimane, has set the fashion world abuzz, stoking the industry’s curiosity about these images.

In a lengthy message posted on his Instagram account on September 6, the fashion prodigy, who steered the style of Celine – a Parisian house owned by the LVMH group – from January 2018 to October 2024, overseeing exponential growth, welcomed the house’s new chapter, convinced that it “will be able to reinvent itself brilliantly, both in its advertising campaigns and in its institutional image, with a distinctive, autonomous photographic language and universe.”

All this, of course, “in a spirit of creative independence and renewal, free of any remnants, borrowing or insistent reference to my photographic style – including my advertising campaigns and films for Celine – it goes without saying,” he cautions, adding that he is eager to discover this photographic renewal at Celine.

It’s fair to say that Rider has had to walk a tightrope to refresh this image, while retaining echoes of the vocabulary developed around the brand in recent years. He has sought to distance himself as far as possible from the androgynous, rock-tinged, melancholic aesthetic, and the black-and-white palette so dear to Slimane.

The American designer, in fact, opted for colour photography, dressing his models in sexy or chic looks, at times with a masculine edge, while the accessories are clearly brought to the fore. The chosen models are photographed in close-up by Zoë Ghertner, showcasing the collection presented in July in Paris for spring-summer 2026. They all sport a slightly sulky look, which may recall Slimane’s rebellious heroines, but above all, suggests a smooth transition.