The New CELINE Has Real-World Horsepower
One had to wonder, how would dramatically CELINE, the luxury house previously synonymous with Hedi Slimane, shift under Michael Rider's purview? Or would it even change? With a resume that includes both Phoebe Philo's Céline and Polo Ralph Lauren, Rider only promised one thing: Grounded luxury.
And on that note, Rider delivered.
Debuted off-calendar in Paris on July 6, Rider's coed CELINE debut was rich with a kind of patient opulence that worthily walks the line between his predecessors.
The touches of Americana that crop up throughout Rider's CELINE Spring 2026 collection are fueled by Lauren's horsepower, the James Dean-cool T-shirts tucked into full trousers, the washed-out jeans accented by big ol' belt buckles, the power suiting worn with statement shirts or squared-off ties.
And Slimane's crisply Frenchified notion of Bob Dylan-era rock uniforms is legible in the clean lines and approachable silhouettes of flowing culottes and kicky scarves.
Isn't there also a touch of Philo's suave Céline woman in the adventurously styled and over-buttoned cardigans, the full dresses, the tremendous trenches that cocoon the wearer?
Surely, the last thing a designer would like to hear is that their forebears are visible in their oeuvre. Don't we all consider ourselves individuals carving our own personalized paths? (Doubly so for creatives working in artsy fields, or so you'd assume)
However, it's hardly shameful to embody some of the most famous (and profitable) designers in recent fashion history. Perhaps one could quibble if the result was bland reiteration but, instead, Rider's unique proposition is in blending the inclinations of Lauren, Slimane, and Philo into something neither imitative nor uninspired.
Rider's CELINE is instead delightfully digestible, redolent with the kind of real-deal wearable stuff that's beginning to demarcate much of contemporary luxury fashion and smartly observant of several Slimane tricks (Instagram comments remain off, rendering CELINE's IG feed an exclusive gallery of taste).
Excellent leather jackets, just-so relaxed blazers, classic shirts, and all-purpose knitwear smartly made smarter with bravura styling that softens the wilder bits — super-snug boiler suits, for instance, or ultra-cropped tuxedo jackets — with unambiguously grounded accessories that range from CELINE Triomphe-monogrammed leather bags to bug-eyed eyewear of the Philo variety.
This is all terribly welcome.
For too long, luxury fashion has offered far-reaching garments far-removed from the sort of stuff that people actually (want to) wear.
Rider's CELINE collection, like several other recent seasonal offerings, is a welcome reality check.
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