Hedi Slimane heads to Hollywood for ‘Age of Indieness’ Celine show

Yesterday evening (8 December 2022), in a high-octane spectacle befitting its location – Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre, one of the great movie palaces of Hollywood’s golden era – Hedi Slimane presented his Winter 2023 collection for Celine, an 87-look co-ed outing the French designer titled ‘The Age of Indieness’.

It marked a homecoming of sorts for the designer, who resided in Los Angeles for several years and has long drawn inspiration from the city’s nightlife and music scenes. Backdropped by an enormous lit-up version of the house’s double-C ‘Triomphe’ monogram – its shimmering design reminiscent of the opulent art deco surrounds of the theatre, which was built in 1931 – the show itself was defined by the insouciant, undone glamour that has become synonymous with Slimane’s tenure at the house. 

Celine by Hedi Slimane Winter 2023

The collection’s title seemed to suggest a link to Slimane’s recent S/S 2023 womenswear offering – shown via a short film last month – which the house called an ‘indie summer’, ’a renaissance of Hedi Slimane’s 2000s era’ (notably, it heralded the return of what the house called ‘The Original Skinny Jean’, which Slimane introduced during his influential time as creative director of Dior Homme). Here, those jeans returned – tucked into slouchy leather boots and worn with an undone vest or jacket – alongside other pieces reminiscent of ‘The Age of Indieness’, among them miniature frilled dresses, leather and sequinned jackets, sliced-away denim shorts, fringed suede boots, lean tailoring and military-inspired blazers.

A flurry of evening wear – from strappy liquefied sequin and silk gowns to a golden mini dress worn by house muse Kaia Gerber – closed the show, no doubt prized by the high-wattage Hollywood crowd who occupied the show’s front row (including Brie Larson, Austin Butler and Priscilla Presley). Celine noted each of these couture garments was entirely stitched by hand.

Music, as ever, remained central to Slimane’s vision; in the show’s accompanying release, he listed the numerous bands who have taken to the Wiltern’s stage in its history – from Prince and The Rolling Stones to Sonic Youth and The Strokes. For this occasion, the original soundtrack was titled ‘Hello Operator’, performed by the White Stripes and written and produced by Jack White (Slimane commissioned and co-produced the track). As the show ended, an after party ensued, with performances from Interpol, The Strokes, and Iggy Pop – the last having taken to the Wilton stage in 2007 as part of a tour by Iggy and the Stooges.

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