CELINE released the video of its 2024 winter men’s fashion show online. The opening scene makes people feel as if they have stepped into a Hollywood action blockbuster: a row of CELINE black helicopters in a V-shaped formation, parachuting into Southern California among the magnificent mountain scenery. In the Mojave Desert, a jukebox was placed on a deserted winding road; a mysterious young man started the jukebox and played “Fantasy” composed by French composer HECTOR BERLIOZ in 1830. “Symphony”: As the melodious melody of brass and strings progresses, the audience seems to have entered a different dimension of time and space: groups of vintage Cadillacs galloping on the endless stretch of desolate roads, the scenery is cut into a montage, and people wearing fashionable clothes Young men walk confidently but sometimes look like ghosts, cowboys ride alone in the wilderness…
The 14-minute fashion show video was directed, photographed and filmed by CELINE creative director Hedi Slimane, and this series of clothing is appropriately named “SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE”. After Hedi Slimane heard this romantic musical masterpiece at the age of 11, he was deeply attracted by this piece composed by the young Berlioz for his lover in 1830; in 1969, the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein ) once praised “Symphony Fantasy” as the world’s first psychedelic symphony, which was 130 years earlier than the rise of the psychedelic music style wave in the late 1960s. “As the title says, no matter from which angle you look at it, , this dream contains psychedelic elements.”
This time the film is paired with the version Bernstein recorded in New York in 1963. The psychedelic feeling of the music penetrates through the camera. Male models wearing sunglasses and sombreros appear in sequence in an endless field of scenes. On the road, wearing the 2024 winter series of men’s clothing created by Hedi Slimane, it is both elegant and classic. The neatly tailored black suit hints at the return of the designer’s iconic tailoring silhouette: “I”-shaped tailoring is both the designer’s signature silhouette , is also a tailoring feature of the 1960s inspired by the craze in England in the 19th century.
Coats, three-button suits and hand-embroidered vests are all carefully cut from the rarest and luxurious materials such as silk, cashmere, and vicuña; the same color is black, and the light created by different fabrics such as matte, satin, and patent leather dominates the Visual effects throughout the series. The classic knight jacket is decorated with eye-catching shiny silver hardware, and slim-fitting narrow trousers are used to outline a slender figure; a black coat decorated with sequins is worn over a neatly tailored white shirt and a bow satin tie. Flowing, sumptuous fur coats and shiny patent leather jackets add a retro rockabilly aesthetic, while pinstripe suits and gorgeous turtlenecks walk the line between masculine and elegant.
Paved custom rivets, trompe-l’oeil rhinestones and sequins… Rock elements appear on a series of coats with a low-key gorgeous light: the unobstructed desert sunlight shines on the fabric that swings with the model’s brisk steps. The water-like light and shadow show off the exquisite craftsmanship that is extremely low-key and extremely luxurious. Wide-brimmed gentleman’s hats and narrowed square sunglasses are the season’s best accessories, and Hedi Slimane still effortlessly incorporates his distinctive and signature fashion aesthetic into perfectly tailored clothing. The whole series of designs with black as the main color is endlessly gorgeous in the endless desolate wilderness.
