Hedi Slimane’s Celine woman just got ladylike

It’s Friday night at Paris Fashion Week, which, going by recent seasons, can only mean one thing: Celine. Here’s what went down at Hedi Slimane’s latest show.

THE SHOW WAS BACK AT INVALIDES

As with Slimane’s last two shows, the AW19 womenswear presentation took place at the Dôme des Invalides. While Rick Owens is all about the Palais de Tokyo, and Chanel the Grand Palais, the designer is seemingly laying his claim on the Parisian church.

IT STARTED WITH A SPECTACLE

...I mean, what else were you expecting? As guests took their seats and the show began, a giant mirrored box carrying a model wearing the first look lit up and moved through the air, before delivering her to the runway.

HEDI HAD A BOUGIE, PARISIAN WOMAN IN HIS MIND THIS SEASON

If last season was all about party girls and new wave boys, this season offered a kind of bourgeois take on the 80s and felt almost archive-inspired. Angular models made their way out onto the runway in a succession of luxe-feeling looks, including leather culottes, stonewash jeans, and pleated skirts, as worn with thigh-high boots. Others wore long, printed dresses, accessorised with leather belts with saddle-like detailing, as well as Victorian-era collared shirts under knitted sweaters, shearling coats, and tweedy blazers. Basically, think a rich, Parisian woman breezing around the city in a cloud of Vogue smoke in the 1980s, and you’re pretty much there.

...BUT THERE WAS SOME ROCK ‘N’ ROLL

While things had been toned down since last season, Slimane’s sophomore womenswear collection still had plenty of glam rock appeal, with many models wearing sequined capes, slim-cut suits, and shiny, glittering leopard print pieces.

EVERY MODEL WORE AVIATORS

Yes, every single one. Other accessories included wide brimmed hats, long necklaces, patterned scarves tied around the neck, and gold chained handbags worn slung over a shoulder.