CELINE creative director Hedi Slimane knows what he likes. His menswear is tremendously consistent, circling a familiar mélange of likeminded motifs but evolving enough to never succumb to stagnation.
Sounds like puffery but there's a reason that Slimane has resolutely remained an industry icon for over three decades and at CELINE for nearly six. Menswear wasn't broken but, still, Slimane fixed it.
The Spring/Summer 2024 CELINE Skate capsule, part of its greater Delusional Daydream menswear collection, is quintessential Slimane. Classic fare kept timeless but refreshed for younger, style-savvy shoppers.
Much like how Slimane's CELINE SS21 men's line was a tangible (and aural) homage to the gaunt e-boys of TikTok, CELINE Skate — already available on CELINE's site and at its stores — is a modernization of '90s grunge and skatewear. It retains the stylistic trappings of the subcultures that inspired it but it's also clearly, recognizably, Slimane's CELINE.
Slimane famously adores him some rock 'n roll: he's had rockers soundtrack his runways and lensed musical icons for seasonal campaigns, all while modern musical talents flock to his wearable work. So getting a little Kurt Cobain in the Celine mix is only too perfect.
Peep the Skate capsule's campaign imagery and note the shaggy cardigan worn bare-chested, the washed-out jeans, the low-profile skate shoes, and, of course, the shapely white shades that look impressively close to Cobain's inimitable Christian Roths (a worthy reframing [ha] of an existing CELINE style).
Slimane's musical cues blend so many different rock influences that he'd likely never lean his biannual offerings solely into a single genre but this standalone capsule offers a satisfying exploration of Seattle punkishness through the Slimane lens. What if Slimane had designed that one Perry Ellis capsule instead of Marc Jacobs?
And, perhaps more saliently, could Slimane one day tackle each of the individual eras of rock? It'd be a challenge worthy of his ample skills.
Oh, and there's a rockin' python-patterned CELINE cruiser, too.
