ROUNDING up Paris Fashion Week Men’s were Celine’s teddy boys. An homage to the London music scene, as his AW19 collection was fittingly titled A London Diary: Polaroids of the British youth.
The setting was theatrical, to say the least, guests took place in a big black box, similar to the one Hedi Slimane erected on Les Invalides for his debut womenswear show, introducing his very first standalone menswear collection.
Taking inspiration from the British new wavers and post-punks of the eighties, Hedi Slimane reappropriated the bowl haircut, coining it the Celine-cut. Every model sported this hard-to-pull-off hairdo with some rather extensive range of sunglasses.
As for the clothes, suits had skinny drainpipe trousers with even skinnier ties, nodding to the London Teddy Boys. Working mainly with monochromatic colours in the grey-scale range, the yellow tiger-printed fur coat was a welcome surprise, adding a touch of colour.
The jackets and blazers were neatly cut and detailed and even came in a full leather execution. What really struck a chord was the variety of tweed jackets, creating lovely patterns on jackets, coats, and scarfs.
It was a while before the next punch-packed look came down the runway, but then a full-sequin blazer and a laqué leather shearling jacket with golden appliqués and the golden lurex coat made an appearance and became instant favourites.
The surprise of the evening wasn’t the return of the brother creepers – as seen on numerous looks but the performance by legendary saxophonist James Chance.
The parade of sharply cut skinny-suits wasn’t the most exciting Celine-show we’ve seen, yet I’m sure nobody can argue with the beauty of a perfectly tailored suit, and Hedi Slimane did Celine proudly.
by Lupe Baeyens