0/12/2020

House Histories: The Celine timeline

A symbol of modern minimalism and sophistication, the Celine brand is renowned for its
understanding of what women really want to wear. However, while defined for many modern fans by
the work of former creative director Phoebe Philo, Celine actually has a long and storied history
dating back to the 1940s. Here’s everything you need to know…

1945

Celine is founded by Céline and Richard Vapiana as a made-to-measure children’s shoe store at 52
Rue Malte in Paris. Its first logo is a distinctive red elephant created by cartoonist Raymond Peynet.

1948

Early success sees the Celine chain expand to three more stores.

1960

The brand repositions itself with its first ready-to-wear offering for
women. The clothes take a sportswear approach and prioritise
function as well as style.

1963

Celine introduces its first women’s shoe line.

1964

Vent Fou, the brand’s first fragrance, is launched featuring notes of

jasmine, galbanum and rose.

1966

The Celine range expands to an array of leather accessories, including

bags, gloves and belts, made in Florence to ensure quality.

1973

A Celine ad campaign from the 1970s

The elephant logo is replaced with a new design, known as the Blazon Chaine, featuring intertwining
Cs inspired by the Arc de Triomphe. The logo is used to create the Celine’s first signature ‘C’ Sulky
canvas.

1987

Bernard Arnault buys Celine’s capital and becomes the owner of all 89 of its stores worldwide.

1996

Celine offi
worth 2.7
begins on
accessor
creative

1997

Céline Va
succeede
Celine in
Vuitton a
received
Jacobs an
same tim

Kors’ sign
Celine a
collection
cashmere
Kors also
Poulbot s
brand.

2004

Amid dec
LVMH tre
to focus
Meniche
the helm
 Gisele in Celine SS 2000 ad campaign

2006

Ivana Omazic, who has held positions at Prada, Jil Sander and Miu Miu, is appointed as creative
director but fails to deliver the results LVMH expects.

2008

Omazic is replaced by Phoebe Philo who proves to be the perfect person to bring this, now
somewhat obscure, brand back to fashion’s forefront. Joining from Chloe, Philo showed her first
collection for SS10, presenting an elegant, minimalist and precise take on Vapiana’s original aesthetic.
Its strong, clean lines speak to contemporary consumers and the brand’s fortunes immediately turn
round.

2010

Philo receives the Designer of the Year Award at the British Fashion Awards.

2011

Philo receives the CFDA’s International Designer of the Year Award.

2015

Celine relocates its headquarters to 16 Rue Vivienne in Paris’ 2nd arrondissement.

2017

Séverine Merle is appointed CEO.

2018

After a hugely successful decade at Celine, Philo steps down and is replaced by Hedi Slimane. Fresh
from his controversial rebrand of Saint Laurent, Slimane stamps his trademark penchant for super
skinny edgy styles on Celine - a move not well received by those who loved the brand under Philo.
The debut of Slimane’s first collection sends prices for #oldceline sky rocketing and reviews are
roundly disappointing. However, Slimane, with his background in menswear, has managed to expand
Celine’s share of the men’s market and critics and consumers alike do seem to have warmed to
Slimane’s Celine in the seasons since.

CELINE Brand Story

Celine Vipiana named her eponymous brand after first name in 1945. The business began as a made-
to-measure shoe service for children until the 1960s, when the designer developed her first line of
leather good and accessories. It was only natural that the brand next launched a sportswear
collection in 1968. From there, Celine came to stand for the idea of Parisian chic, with savoir-faire
and the finest quality materials as pillars of the house. With 140 stores worldwide today, Celine is a
luxury French fashion house led by artistic director Hedi Slimane. The French designer and equally
well-regarded photographer has created eye-catching collections through the ateliers at 16 Rue
Vivienne – and collaborated with American artist Christian Marclay for his first Celine collection.
Combined with ready-to-wear and accessories, his 'haute-couture' designs showcase the meticulous
possibilities of French craft within the Celine wardrobe.

Brand History & Legacy

The History & Legacy of Celine

Sep 30, 2021

Share

Celine is renowned for producing luxury clothing and accessories that women actually want rather
than exotic fashion that's unrealistic for day-to-day wear. Although the brand is often defined by
Phoebe Philo's modern, minimalistic and sophisticated aesthetic, Celine has a long history dating
back to the 1940's.

The Start of An Empire

Although the brand is now known as an iconic women’s fashion brand, Celine actually started as a
made-to-measure children’s shoe boutique. In 1945, Céline Vipiana and her husband Richard
opened their very first store in 52 rue Malte, Paris.

The shop was known for its highly distinctive red elephant logo created by the famous French
cartoonist, Raymont Peynet.

The French Fashion Revolution

The brand quickly became popular, by 1948 they opened three more stores.

After a decade of success, the couple expanded their operations to include luxury accessories and
women’s ready-to-wear sportswear. This includes wool skirt suits, fitted shirts, leather vests, and
pastel-coloured denim.

What set them apart from other luxury brands was that Mrs Vipiana intended to create functional,
everyday women’s items rather than unnecessary, frivolous items.

Fashion Never Sleeps, So Neither Did Céline

Thereafter, the French fashion revolution expanded. During this time, the founders dreamt bigger
and did not stop for anyone.

1963

As the brand increasingly focused on women, it was only natural that the duo expanded to women’s
shoes.
1964

Celine released their very first fragrance. The Vent Fou is said to be a pleasant scent featuring notes
of galbanum, jasmine, and rose.

1966

The brand then extended to other women’s accessories such as luxury handbags, belts and gloves.
Celine then opened up a factory in Florence, Italy to keep up with the high demand for leather goods
while maintaining quality control.

The Early 70’s

By the 1970’s, Celine opened international boutiques across the globe, from Monte Carlo to Hong
Kong.

The Elephant In The Room

In 1973, Celine replaced their child-like red elephant logo with a classy design known as the Blazon
Chaine. This redesign features intertwining Cs inspired by a famous Parisian landmark, the Arc de
Triomphe. This became Celine’s first signature ‘C’ Sulky canvas.

The LVMH Empire

Because Celine was becoming so successful, it attracted the eyes of many investors including Bernard
Arnault, the chairman and CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH. Today, LVMH owns around 75
prestigious brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Bvlgari,
and more.

LVMH invested in Celine and adopted all 89 of its stores. However, it was almost a decade later when
Celine officially became a part of the LVMH group in 1996.

The Michael Kors Era

Mrs Vipiana remained the designer of Celine until she died in 1997 at 84 years old. After her passing,
Michael Kors took over as lead designer for the brand’s ready-to-wear department.

Michael Kors’s Approach

During Kors’s time, he emboldened a luxurious modern feminine glamour combined with a sporty
spirit. Of Kors (see what we did there?), he was partly responsible for Celine’s ‘it’ bag appeal with the
Boogie and Poulbot styles.

More of Michael Kors

In 1999, he was appointed creative director. However, he did not remain in his position for long. By
2004 he left to focus on his namesake label. Thereafter, the brand struggled to find the perfect
succeeding creative head that would be the right fit.
Celine’s Transition

The transition post-Kors was tough: LVMH brought in two established creative directors but neither
seemed to fill Kors' shoes. Former Burberry designer, Roberto Menichetti, lasted only a year.
Thereafter, Ivana Omazic (who had previously been at Prada, Jil Sander, and Miu Miu), tried her hand
at heading the company in 2006 but couldn’t quite deliver.

Phoebe Philo’s Reign

Still today, Phoebe Philo is known as Celine’s saviour, she brought the company back to the
forefront of the fashion industry. Philo came from Chloé, another well-known women’s fashion
brand, and transformed Celine with her unique style. Phoebe Philo emboldened a chic and
minimalist take on Vipiana’s original aesthetic and made the brand relevant once again.

Philo’s First Collection

Her first Celine collection was the Spring 2010 line. Through her fashion, she showed her
understanding of what women want. Her collection consisted of clean lines, precise tailoring and
neutral tones. With her success, Philo put the brand back on the fashion map and raked in the
brand’s fortune.

Iconic Celine Trends

Through her time, she started iconic fashion trends including the brand’s iconic ‘it’ bags like the
Trapeze, Classic, Luggage, Cabas style bags. Other trends include the white tennis shoe trend
(even Adidas admits that “She made it palatable to women”).

Empowering Fashion

Philo also used Celine’s platform to promote empowering messages, her feminist-driven Spring 2017
collection unapologetically highlighted the female body. She also paid tribute to significant figures
such as the 86-year-old Joan Didion, cast as the face of the Spring 2015 campaign.

In her personal life, Philo became the first designer at a major fashion brand to take maternity leave.

Hedi Slimane

After a decade, Philo finally stepped down and was then succeeded by Hedi Slimane, Celine’s current
creative director. This was not long after his controversial rebrand of Saint Laurent (Slimane is the
reason the brand no longer goes by ‘Yves Saint Laurent’ but ‘Saint Laurent’ instead). Moreover,
Slimane completely eradicated Philo’s signature look that she cultivated over her decade-long era as
Celine's creative director. Instead, Slimane did away with neutral tones and well-tailored pieces by
replacing it with his own edgy, punk style that’s "driven by youth culture, indie rock and sulking
adolescence." Some even may even say that Slimane turned Celine into Saint Laurent.

Celine for Men

Hedi Slimane has a strong background in luxury menswear. Therefore it comes as no surprise that he
has managed to expand Celine’s men’s market which has proven successful for the brand.

Celine’s Rebranding

For many years, the brand was known as Céline. However, in 2018 Slimane did away with the
signature accent, making it simply: Celine. The rebrand was revealed to the public via the House’s
Instagram, simultaneously they deleted the brand’s entire Instagram history. According to a
statement released by Celine, "the new logo has been directly inspired by the original, historical
version that existed in the 1960s,"

Additionally, the latest logo uses modernist typography from the 1930s. The spacing between the
lettering has also been narrowed to create a tighter appearance.

Celine Today

This year, the luxury market report revealed that pre-owned Celine handbags outperform its original
retail price - making it an excellent investment. In fact, Celine now holds the top third position in the
handbag category for the highest investment return on a luxury bag in South Africa. Of course, this
comes as no surprise to us and others who know the brand well.

Where To Buy Celine Accessories

If you’re considering investing in fabulous Celine handbags, shoes, sunglasses, and more, then you’ve
come to the right place. Our online selection boasts a range of highly coveted luxury items.

What is Celine?

Celine is a French luxury ready-to-wear and leather goods brand, founded in 1945 by Céline Vipiana.
Owned by the LVMH group since 1996, it has its headquarters at 16 rue Vivienne in Paris. Séverine
Merle has been the Chief Executive Officer since April 2017.

Instagram

@celine

Who took over at Celine in 2018?

Hedi Slimane was announced as the artistic, creative, and image director of Celine on January 21,
2018.

How did Celine start?

Celine was initially a made-to-measure children's shoe business founded by Céline Vipiana and her
husband, Richard, in 1945. They opened their first boutique at 52 rue Malte in Paris. The brand was
known for its logo, the red elephant created by Raymont Peynet.
What was Celine's focus in 1960?

In 1960, Celine shifted its focus to a ready-to-wear fashion brand for women with a sportswear
approach, offering leather goods such as bags, loafers, gloves, and clothes.

What significant changes occurred in Celine in the 1970s?

In 1973, Celine redesigned its logo with the intertwined "C" Sulky canvas, linked to the Arc-de-
Triomphe. This period also saw the brand's expansion internationally with various boutique openings
.

When did LVMH acquire Celine?

Bernard Arnault bought into Celine's capital in 1987, and it was integrated into the LVMH group in
1996 for 2.7 billion French francs ($540 million).

Who succeeded Céline Vipiana as Celine's creative director?

After Céline Vipiana, Peggy Huynh Kinh took over in 1988. Michael Kors became the women's ready-
to-wear designer and creative director for Celine in 1997. He left in 2004 to focus on his brand.

Celine

Visit the website

CEO

Séverine Merle

Creation date

1945

Headquarters

16 rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris - France

Watch the decorative video

Unmute decorative video

• 178

STORES WORLDWIDE

• 2,500
EMPLOYEES AROUND THE WORLD

• 4

COLLECTIONS A YEAR

The history of the luxury brand Celine dates back to 1945 when Céline Vipiana founded the brand
along with her husband Richard. Originally, Celine focused on producing shoes and accessories for
children. The boutique in Paris offered high-quality craftsmanship and was distinguished by its
minimalist elegance.

In the 1950s, Celine expanded its range and began designing women's clothing. The brand
emphasized simple elegance and high-quality materials.

Celine's designs were characterized by clean lines, precise cuts, and a timeless aesthetic.

The brand quickly gained recognition for its refined craftsmanship and sense of quality.

In the 1960s, Celine's son, Michel Vipiana, took over the company, marking a period of growth
and expansion. Under his leadership, Celine opened new boutiques throughout France and
established itself as an international brand.

In the 1970s, Celine continued to expand its presence, opening boutiques in fashion capitals like New
York, London, and Tokyo. The brand expanded its range to include accessories such as handbags,
shoes, and jewelry. Celine handbags became coveted items symbolizing style and class.

In 1997, Celine was acquired by the prestigious luxury group LVMH, leading to a new era for the
brand. Designer Michael Kors was appointed creative director of Celine and revitalized the
collections. Kors brought a modern perspective and added a touch of informality and youth to the
brand.

Following Michael Kors' departure in 2004, Italian designer Roberto Menichetti took over as creative
director of Celine. He returned to the brand's original minimalist aesthetic, focusing on high-quality
materials and timeless elegance.

A significant turning point in Celine's history came in 2008 with the arrival of renowned
designer Phoebe Philo as creative director. Philo infused a fresh and modern approach into the
collections, solidifying the brand's iconic aesthetic. Her designs were known for their simple elegance
and functionality.

Phoebe Philo left Celine in 2018, and designer Hedi Slimane was appointed as the new creative
director. Slimane introduced a more rocker and rebellious style, dramatically changing Celine's
image.
Today, Celine is one of the world's leading luxury brands, known for its timeless elegance, quality
craftsmanship, and innovative designs. The brand has gained a loyal following of fashion enthusiasts
and celebrities worldwide. Celine boutiques can be found on the most prestigious shopping streets
and luxury stores worldwide.

Celine's history is marked by outstanding designers who merged their own vision with the brand's
legacy, shaping it into what it is today: an icon of luxury fashion.

Celine/Céline – the study of a brand in evolution through its designers

Celine brand evolution: an analysis of a brand that has served as a blank canvas for the personalities
of its creative directors, from Céline Vipiana to Hedi Slimane

Celine, le bottier pour enfants

Before Hedi Slimane removed the accent above the ‘e’, stirring the fashion pot and inadvertently
launching a cult-like #OldCéline movement, the brand’s logo had gone through various incarnations.
It all started at the tail end of the Second World War, when Céline Vipiana and her husband Richard
opened their shop at 52 rue de Malte in Paris.

The boutique, which went by the name of Celine, le bottier pour enfants sold luxury footwear for
children branded with a red elephant created by French cartoonist Raymond Peynet. The Vipianas
gained esteem for the shoes’ quality and custom-made soles.

In 1966 they established a leather goods factory in Florence to expand the range to shoes and
accessories for women and in 1967 they launched a prêt-a-porter line with a focus on the functional
that became core to the brand’s DNA. As the foundress herself stated to Interview magazine, the
Céline fashion was «comfortable and practical. The woman who travels can bring two light things in
a suitcase and these things will keep being clean and flawless».

True to the spirit of the decade, Céline’s ready-to-wear line was designed to fit an active woman’s
lifestyle and included sporty-chic pieces like flat-heeled moccasins — the Inca and the Byblos. The
practical-but-elegant collection proved to be a winner and Céline became the first luxury brand to hit
the Japanese market, shortly afterwards triumphing in the USA.

From Céline Vipiana to Michael Kors

Though commercially successful with eighty-seven international boutiques, the brand kept a
relatively low profile before catching the eye of Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, in 1987. Nine years
later, Céline got officially integrated into the luxury group and pushed into the spotlight with a
boutique at avenue Montaigne in Paris. It wasn’t until 1997 that a new chapter began — Céline
Vipiana, in charge of her brand’s designs for fifty-two years, passed away and was succeeded by
Michael Kors.
This put the brand in direct rivalry with Louis Vuitton and Loewe, both of which hired new American
creative directors at the same time (Marc Jacobs and Narciso Rodriquez, respectively). Before Kors
came along, it was the leather goods that were the brand’s signature. With his take on luxurious
sportswear, the designer plucked Céline’s ready-to-wear from obscurity.

For fall, there were cashmere knits, furs and separates. For spring, the garments had a feel of jet
setting destinations like Monte Carlo and Tahiti. Despite his namesake brand’s aesthetic occasionally
shining through, Kors kept consistent with Céline’s philosophy of plain designs for sophisticated
women. Some elements he put his own spin on, like the Blazon Chaine insygnia.

Featuring intertwining ‘C’s inspired by the chain-link fence around Arc de Triomphe, they were
created in 1973 by Vipiana to briefly serve as the logo; Kors played around with the design, «turning
it into sandals, threading it round the waist of jeans, modernizing it as buckles», as told in a 2000
interview with Tim Blanks.

Kors doubled the brand’s turnover with two bags, Poulbot and Boogie, but felt neglected by the
parent company and exited in 2004 to focus on his own label. He left Céline as he found it: a
traditional French lifestyle brand with a high-end reputation. His final collection, which merged sharp
mid-nineties American sportswear with mid-fifties European classic garments, wrapped up his Céline
legacy with a bow.

Lampoon reviews Céline’s heritage

The next four years were a black hole in the brand’s history, which withered without a singular
creative vision. The buzz generated by Kors had died down; new designers swapped seats as though
playing a game of musical chairs — Roberto Menichetti lasted only a year, his successor Ivana Omazic
two. When Phoebe Philo, who in the early aughts turned Chloé’s fate, eventually took over, she
proved to be the right woman for the job and catapulted Céline into the forefront of fashion.

Her debut collection for spring 2010 was met with critical acclaim and approval from consumers,
who quickly formed a fanbase nicknamed Philophiles. While Philo’s style was in line with Vipiana’s
original vision, it turned out to be more coincidental compatibility than conscious effort. «When I
came to the house, I had an idea of what I thought the core values of Céline should be. Céline had no
recognizable silhouette, no historic designers, it hadn’t been licensed out in the Seventies and Eighties
as many other brands had. I’ve never looked into archives anywhere I’ve worked, actually, like it or
hate it, it doesn’t matter, I just like it to be strong.It’s worth doing something differently».

Of the brand’s identity, she was quoted by The New York Times saying: «It will be whatever I make it,
for the time I’m there». A move to be repeated by Hedi Slimane a decade later, but differently
received, Philo’s rethinking the label in her own image catered to a female gaze and in the process
made it a favorite of the fashion’s in-crowd.

Phoebe Philo at Céline

Hailed as «a designer who knows what women want», she redefined womenswear of the 2010s with
her oversized dresses and utilitarian layers, stressing comfort and elegance over sex appeal. Best
evidenced in her rejection of the pretty shoe, she sent models down the runway in fur-lined sliders,
glove shoes and block heels; she herself took a final bow at the end of each show wearing the Adidas
Stan Smith sneakers, single-handedly sparking their revival.

While part of her fanbase’s fervent loyalty can be accredited to pragmatic designs that felt universally
flattering for women everywhere, it was her entire ethos of subverting fashion’s commodification of
women’s bodies. Her first ad campaign did not feature the heads of models to keep the focus on the
apparel; for the spring 2015 campaign she cast writer Joan Didion, then seventy-nine, as the face.
Philo’s departure in 2018 was met with a frenzy of Philophiles rushing into boutiques to stock up on
their favorites. With a fanbase this ardent, the brand’s successor Slimane was facing an uphill task.

Hedi Slimane at Celine

Like Philo, he desired to mark his tenure as his own: «We don’t enter a fashion house to imitate our
predecessor, much less to take over the essence of their work, their codes and elements of language»,
Slimane commented to Le Figaro.

«The goal is not to go the opposite way of their work either. It would be a misinterpretation. Respect
means preserving the integrity of each individual, recognizing the things that belong to another
person with honesty and discernment. It also means starting a new chapter. We arrive then with our
own stories, our own culture, a personal semantic that is different from the ones of houses in which
we create».

Still, his rebrand was met with largely negative reactions, mostly criticizing his trademark super
skinny rock’n’roll styles that fit at Saint Laurent as missing Celine’s values entirely. His decision to
modify the brand’s logo caused an uproar as if deleting the brand’s legacy — a not entirely fair
assessment, considering Slimane’s logo was paying homage to the one from the 1960s.

His debut collection for spring 2019 was a firm marking of territory: he wiped the brand’s social
media accounts clean, added a menswear line for the first time in brand’s history, and sent waifishly
thin models down the catwalk wearing his signature slick tailoring and glittery babydoll dresses,
dripping in hardware and leather. Yet his sophomore collection seemed like a 180 degree turn; for fall
2019, Slimane unveiled the new Celine woman — or perhaps not at all new, considering she
appeared to be pulled straight from the brand’s 1970’s archives, a bourgeois Parisienne from the Left
Bank. Next season’s men- and womenswear collections, which came out after the start of the
pandemic, took another pivot, this time into Gen Z.

Everything about them was literal, from the viral TikTok songs serving as soundtrack to athleisure
outfits that seemed to be curated by Emma Chamberlain. His collection only becomes clear in
hindsight, with the release of fall 2021 campaigns, when the larger picture reveals itself. The concept
for each season has been a complete product; a concept fixated less on the garment’s fabric and
architecture, as was Philo’s case, and more on the message.

Slimane’s hyperfocus on the storytelling through his collections is so intense that his designs might
be misconstrued as derivative. What they are, however, are snapshots of his current obsessions,
executed in detail from the setting, casting and music to the garment itself — whether the subject is
pre-pandemic Parisian nightlife, old-old Celine or TikTok teens, Slimane will create his Celine costume
for it. It is far from Philo’s approach, but neither in a good or bad way, simply another hierarchy of
artistic values.

Celine brand evolution, recapped

In 1945, Céline Viapiana and her husband, Richard, created Céline, a made-to-measure children’s
shoe business, and opened a first boutique at 52 rue Malte in Paris. In 1960, the brand decided to
change its positioning by focusing its business on a ready-to-wear fashion brand for women with a
sportswear approach. In 1987, Bernard Arnault decided to buy into Céline’s capital, integrating it into
the LVMH group in 1996.
Vipiana remained the designer from 1945-1997: American fashion designer Michael Kors was named
women’s ready-to-wear designer and creative director for Céline, a role he kept until 2004 when he
left to focus on his brand. Philo’s tenure at Céline began in October 2008, and she presented her first
ready-to-wear collection for Spring/Summer 2010 at Paris Fashion Week.

In December 2017, Philo announced her departure from Céline after finishing the Fall 2018
collection, which was presented in March of that same year. On January 21, 2018, LVMH announced
the appointment of Hedi Slimane as Artistic, Creative and Image Director and in September 2018, he
presented an updated Celine logo on the brand’s Instagram account, prompting the rise of the
#OldCéline movement.

Karolina Liczbińska

Céline

French company

Learn about this topic in these articles:

Philo

•
In Phoebe Philo
…creative director of LVMH’s languishing Céline brand and a board membership, and she accepted,
after stipulating that she would lead the Parisian fashion house from her London home and have
complete creative control. Her timeless designs for Céline combined luxury with practicality and
wearability and translated effortlessly from the runway…

Read More

Slimane

• In Hedi Slimane

…creative, and image director of Céline, effective the following month.

Read More

Phoebe Philo

Table of Contents

IntroductionReferences & Edit HistoryQuick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Related Questions

• What is the weather like in Paris?

• What is the landscape of Paris?

Read Next

5 African American Designers Who Changed Fashion

Pro and Con: Dress Codes

Why New York Is Called "The Big Apple" and How 8 Other Famous Cities Got Their Nicknames

Why Do Jeans Have That Tiny Pocket?

What Led to France’s Reign of Terror?

Discover

6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

11 Memorable Quotes from U.S. Presidential Debates

Pro and Con: Abortion

The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time

The First Space Walk

Did Duchess Anastasia Survive Her Family’s Execution?

What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?

Ask the Chatbot a Question

Visual ArtsFashion & Personal Adornment

Phoebe PhiloPhoebe Philo arriving at the British Fashion Awards, London, 2010.

Phoebe Philo

British fashion designer

Print Cite Share Feedback

Written by

Karen Sparks

Fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Quick Facts

Born:

1973, Paris, France (age 51)

See all related content →

Ask the Chatbot a Question

Phoebe Philo (born 1973, Paris, France) is a British fashion designer who developed a loyal following
with her modern yet wearable wardrobe essentials. She served as creative director of the French
fashion houses Chloé (2001–06) and Céline (2008–17) before launching an eponymous line in 2023.

Philo’s British parents were working in Paris when she was born. By the time she was two years old,
the family had returned to Britain. At age 10 she began putting her own unique spin on her clothing,
customizing a school leotard to mimic one worn by singer Madonna. While she was studying fashion
design at Central Saint Martins College, London, she met (1994) classmate Stella McCartney. After
graduating in 1996, Philo served as McCartney’s design assistant when McCartney succeeded
(1997) Karl Lagerfeld as creative director of Chloé. After McCartney launched her own label, Philo in
2001 became Chloé’s creative director, and, while continuing to reinforce the brand’s aesthetic, she
added a personal, playful, and sensual touch of her own. Her innovations included high-waisted
jeans, baby-doll dresses, wooden wedge shoes, and the padlocked Paddington bag. Philo’s marriage
and the birth of a daughter led her to step down (2006) to focus on her family and to develop her
own aesthetic.

Influenced by 1990s minimalists Helmut Lang and Jil Sander, Philo adopted that philosophy for her
personal style as well as for her fashion line. She eschewed makeup and donned simple clothing,
often appearing in a signature biker jacket and trousers. In 2008 Möet Hennessy Louis
Vuitton (LVMH) chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault offered Philo the position of creative director of
LVMH’s languishing Céline brand and a board membership, and she accepted, after stipulating that
she would lead the Parisian fashion house from her London home and have complete creative
control. Her timeless designs for Céline combined luxury with practicality and wearability and
translated effortlessly from the runway to become closet staples of modern women. Her modern
box-shaped bags and Boston Tote bags became must-have accessories for young consumers. In
addition, she introduced silk pants that puddled at the ankles, commodious coats inspired by
menswear designs, and fur-lined Birkenstock sandals. In 2017 Philo left Céline and stepped away
from the fashion industry.

Four years later Philo made headlines with the announcement that she was starting her own label,
Phoebe Philo, which was to debut in 2022. The release date was later pushed back, and her long-
awaited first collection appeared online in fall 2023. An accompanying press statement noted that
the label sought “to create a product that reflects permanence,” and the line was dominated by
sophisticated wardrobe basics.

The recipient of numerous honors, Philo received the British Designer of the Year awards in 2005 and
2010. In 2011 the Council of Fashion Designers of America named her the International Designer of
the Year. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2014.
Karen SparksThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Hedi Slimane

Table of Contents

IntroductionReferences & Edit HistoryQuick Facts & Related Topics

Related Questions

• What is the weather like in Paris?

• What is the landscape of Paris?

• Is Internet technology "making us stupid"?

• What is the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technology on society?

Read Next

Art History: The Origins of 7 of Your Favorite Art Supplies

5 African American Designers Who Changed Fashion

Pro and Con: Dress Codes

Why New York Is Called "The Big Apple" and How 8 Other Famous Cities Got Their Nicknames

History of Technology Timeline

Discover
5 Remarkably Close U.S. Presidential Elections

Did Duchess Anastasia Survive Her Family’s Execution?

How Many Electoral College Votes Does Each U.S. State Have?
26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History

11 Memorable Quotes from U.S. Presidential Debates

Timeline of the September 11 Attacks

The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950

Ask the Chatbot a Question

Visual ArtsFashion & Personal Adornment

Hedi Slimane

French fashion designer and photographer

Print Cite Share Feedback

Written by
Naomi Blumberg

Fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Quick Facts

Born:

July 5, 1968, Paris, France (age 56)

See all related content →

Ask the Chatbot a Question

Hedi Slimane (born July 5, 1968, Paris, France) is a French fashion designer and photographer who
was known for shaking up the menswear fashion industry by introducing an androgynous skinny
silhouette at the turn of the 21st century.

Slimane dabbled in both photography and fashion as a teenager. He graduated with a degree in art
history from the École du Louvre in Paris in 1992, after which he worked as an assistant to fashion
consultant Jean-Jacques Picart. From there he moved on to work at the Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)
fashion house in 1996 and soon became the artistic director of its menswear division. He introduced
the menswear skinny silhouette on the runway in his “Black Tie” line in 2000, and it became the
prevailing style for more than a decade. He left YSL and went to work at Christian Dior, where he
immediately rebranded the Dior menswear line as Dior Homme (from Dior Monsieur) and launched a
new men’s fragrance called “Higher.” His skinny silhouette quickly found followers in fashion
designer Karl Lagerfeld (who famously lost 90 pounds in order to don Slimane’s designs) and among
rock stars such as David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and Jack White. Music was an integral part of his runway
shows, for which he sometimes commissioned original music from (often up-and-coming) rock
bands. In 2002 he became the first menswear designer to be named International Designer of the
Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Slimane pursued photography alongside his design career. He published several books of
photographs, including Intermission (2002) and Berlin (2003), Stage (2004), London Birth of a
Cult (2005, about rock musician Pete Doherty), and the four-volume Anthology of a Decade (2011),
which documents a 10-year period spent in Berlin, Moscow, Paris, New York City, Los Angeles, and
London. He also began a personal photography blog called “Diary,” which he launched in 2006. The
following year Slimane left his position at Dior, moved to Los Angeles, and concentrated on
photography. “California Song,” an exhibition featuring Slimane’s black and white photographs of
musical artists, was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Pacific Design Center in West
Hollywood, California, in 2011.
Slimane returned to fashion design and to Yves Saint Laurent as its creative director in 2012. Under
Slimane’s leadership, Yves Saint Laurent became known as “Saint Laurent,” and the design operation
was relocated from Paris to Los Angeles. Though he proved a commercially successful force for the
Saint Laurent brand, Slimane left that position in April 2016. In January 2018 it was announced that
he would become artistic, creative, and image director of Céline, effective the following month.