Wind of Change: After Hedi Slimane's exit, Michael Rider is named the new creative director at Celine

One day after the busy fashion month, the news arrived: Hedi Slimane is quitting Celine, and Michael Rider will be replacing him in early 2025. Here is everything you need to know about the changes in the iconic fashion house.

WHY NOW?

The news dropped when the fashion insiders were arriving at the re-see appointments at Louis Vuitton. And though the Paris Fashion Week and fashion month drew to its close on Tuesday night with a splendid Coperni show in Disneyland, Wednesday is always considered an extra fashion day in the PFW calendar, when journalists and buyers are visiting showroom appointments.

When we saw the news alert on our phones, we knew that Hedi Slimane's days at Celine were over and that the rumours turned to be true: the designer didn't manage to negotiate a new contract with the LVMH parent company (his previous contract ended at the beginning of 2024). And even if it's not clear where Hedi will be heading next (our guess is Chanel, but he could also take a break from fashion and focus on his photography and film projects), just four hours later we knew who would succeed him at Celine as the second news alert appeared on our phones: Michael Rider is the new creative director of Celine.

And just like that the calmest day after the very last day of the fashion week, filled with blockbuster shows (Miu Miu, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and off-schedule Coperni Disneyworld extravaganza), turned into "Breaking News". This probably means that Bernard Arnault didn't want to steal any attention from Louis Vuitton and other shows of his brands, but at the same didn't want to wait too long to announce the changes at Celine. Insiders already learned on Monday during Celine Re-See appointments (the last collection designed by Hedi dropped on Sunday in the form of a fashion film), that Hedi Slimane's PR Director Maxime Soulevain left for McQueen, which was a sure sign that the designer was not planning to stay at the house and let one of his closest collaborators pursue his career elsewhere.

WHO IS MICHAEL RIDER?

Little is known about Michael Rider who will be stepping into the shoes of Hedi Slimane at Celine at the beginning of 2025. During Hedi's tenure at the iconic fashion house, sales grew to more than 2.5 billion a year and the House entered new categories such as menswear, perfumes and make-up, making Celine the third biggest fashion label in the LVMH group after Dior and Louis Vuitton. So Michael would be expected to keep it on the same level. A graduate of Brown University, Michael Rider cut his teeth at Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière. Before joining Ralph Lauren, where he was in charge of the Polo line, Rider served as a ready-to-wear designer at Celine with an é for more than ten years under Phoebe Philo, who also made a significant contribution to the success of the brand. So this new post is in some way a bit of a homecoming for the American designer, who left his job at Polo Ralph Lauren in mid-may and relocated to Paris, which fuelled the rumours of his possible replacement of Hedi if the star designer doesn't manage to negotiate his new contract.

“Michael’s vision, creative talent, together with his genuine nature and strong connection to Celine’s heritage, make him a natural choice to continue to build a long-lasting success for the Maison,” announced in the official statement Celine CEO Severine Merle. Let's see what his take on Celine will be.

Text: Lidia Ageeva