CELINE HOMME ‘The Bright Young’: Hedi Slimane’s Nostalgic Summer 2025 Collection
September 7, 2024
Acclaimed designer Hedi Slimane transports us to the sun-drenched summers of 1920s England with the CELINE HOMME Summer 2025 Collection, aptly titled "The Bright Young." Photographed by Slimane against the backdrop of Norfolk's majestic Holkham Hall, this collection is not only homage to a bygone era but a vision through Slimane's distinctively modern lens.
The collection's foundation lies in exquisite fabrics where 1920s summer cashmeres and wools are exclusively rewoven for CELINE. Maintaining authenticity, thoughtful attention to detail extends to tailoring, where trimmed jackets and boating blazers evoke the memory of leisurely summers past for a contemporary audience.
Perhaps the most compelling pieces from "The Bright Young" include the hand-embroidered items that blur the lines between sportswear and high fashion. A rowing jacket, adorned with hand-crafted trompe l'œil couture embroidery pieces, masterfully portrays the skill of the House's ateliers. This piece alone captures Slimane's vision: heritage and high fashion.
Slimane draws liberally from British symbolism in heraldic Celine patches, meticulously crafted using polished silver cannetilles (embroidery threaded jewelry). These emblems, reminiscent of early 20th-century military uniforms, adorn jackets and coats, lending an air of distinguished heritage to modern silhouettes, as well as a nostalgic nod to Slimane's earliest designs at Dior Homme.
The collection's white summer cashmere flannels serve a dual purpose: simultaneously channeling the effortless elegance of F. Scott Fitzgerald lounging at the Hotel Eden Roc and the crisp formality of cricket whites. This duality captures the collection's essence – a bridge between leisurely luxury and sporting tradition.
As expected, no detail is overlooked in Slimane's vision, least of all the footwear. The Richelieu shoes, monks, and tapered derbies are a loving recreation of 1920s English style, updated for the modern dandy. These shoes ground the collection in historical accuracy while stepping confidently into the future.
Floral motifs run throughout the collection, from waistcoats embroidered with English field flowers to silk faille gilets adorned with "English Gothic" floral patterns. These intricate designs, composed of sequins, crystals, and high-gloss pearls, weave history into each piece.
Complementing the new campaign is Slimane's new fragrance for the CELINE Haute Parfumerie collection, "À Rebours” (Against the Grain). Inspired by the decadent dandy Jean des Esseintes from Joris-Karl Huysmans' novel, this scent – with notes of oak moss, cedar, nutmeg, coumarin, and cashmeran – is the olfactory embodiment of the collection's ethos.
“The Bright Young" is the culmination of Slimane's three-decade-long fascination with Anglomania. This interest dates back to his time as a student at the École du Louvre in the late '80s, where he began writing an essay on Anglomania – from the Comte d'Artois, who initiated Anglomania at Versailles, to the Lions des Boulevards, in the wake of Beau Brummel. His research also encompassed Stephen James Napier Tennant (recognized as the original party animal) and Cecil Beaton, who was part of Tennant's entourage. With "The Bright Young" collection, Slimane revives this 30-year-old project.
"The Bright Young" joins CELINE HOMME's lineup of historically-inspired collections, following previous offerings like "Teen Knight Poem." This Summer 2025 collection's strong Anglophile aesthetic echoes the English and equestrian-inspired approach long favored by Ralph Lauren, inviting intriguing comparisons between the two designers' interpretations of British style.
The collection and its accompanying film were shot at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, in June 2024. Harry, a 20-year-old British actor and former Etonian, opens the show riding a horse named Jupiter in the gardens of Holkham Hall. The soundtrack features "Les Indes Galantes," a baroque masterpiece by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed in 1735 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris.
As the models traverse the grounds of Holkham Hall, clad in Slimane's neo-Edwardian vision, "The Bright Young" revisits the past in an enchanting way for a new generation. CELINE HOMME and Slimane continue to lead at the forefront of luxury menswear with this compelling and innovative collection from times past with a keen eye on the future.
