Hedi Slimane’s vision of menswear at Celine is now in the Philippines
Celine opens its second store housing current collections of both menswear and womenswear, plus home items.
Known as fashion’s enfant terrible, Hedi Slimane is the Parisian visionary behind the "skinny" and "androgynous" silhouettes in menswear that revolutionized the indie sleaze look of the 2000s. At Celine, his rock ‘n’ roll rebelliousness and razor-sharp tailoring is a perfect match with the maison’s craftsmanship. After the opening of Celine’s first boutique at Greenbelt 3 last year, this bigger retail space at Solaire is the only venue for men’s current collections, and will be featured with the women’s line.
The interiors designed by Slimane himself in the Miesian geometric monumentalist style use reclaimed oak, walls and shelves of cream-veined black granite, with pops of gold in mirrored surfaces housing the Ava Triomphe soft bags (they carry it in exotics and pastel colorways, too) and the monogrammed home pieces flying off the shelves.
On display are site-specific artworks culled from the Celine Art Project, the curatorial endeavor by Slimane, outfitting Celine boutiques around the world with works by his favorite artists. There’s a Shawn Kuruneru in the dressing room; his geometric abstraction of traditional Chinese landscape echoes Slimane’s bold use of contrast and sensual curves. Virginia Overton’s sculptural assemblages of found wood as well as post-minimalist totems call to mind Slimane’s signature of hugging the body in snug, tapered silhouettes and cropped proportions, as seen on the menswear and womenswear leather and chained denim pieces on the racks.
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Celine is at The Shoppes, Solaire Resort & Casino and Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati. It is scheduled to open its third boutique in the Philippines at Nustar Resort & Casino, Cebu by the end of the year.
