Sticking to a pre-recorded film format for its runway shows, Celine‘s autumn/winter 2022 womenswear collection — dubbed ‘Dans Paris’, which literally means ‘in Paris’ — was filmed in two iconic Parisian locales.
The first was the Hôtel de la Marine that faces the famed Place de la Concorde. The newly restored salons d’apparat of the hotel (of which the Celine autumn/winter 2022 womenswear show inaugurated) with their gilded interiors and lines of chandeliers, were contrasted with the stark simplicity of the second staging. Just across the Seine over on Paris’s Rive Gauche, is the Hôtel National des Invalides — the second location as well as the site of creative, artistic and image director Hedi Slimane’s first show for Celine back in 2018.
For the autumn/winter 2022 womenswear show, Slimane erected another architectural pavilion on the grounds of the Hôtel National des Invalides. Dark, moody and almost completely bare, it was interspersed with the ornate opulence of Hôtel de la Marine for every look that was showcased in the film.
In essence, the staging was reflective of the nature of Dans Paris. Compared to recent Celine collections, Slimane proposed a more traditionally Parisian chic aesthetic — one with nary an obvious ‘CELINE’ branding across ready-to-wear.
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Look 6.Image: Celine. -
Look 7.Image: Celine. -
Look 23.Image: Celine.
The focus was on the cut and silhouette. If the spring/summer 2022 womenswear collection exuded a youthful vibe, autumn/winter 2022 felt more timeless. There was an obvious sense that the Celine woman of the season could come from a number of generations, with proposals that would carry through one’s different phases of life. Nothing felt too stuck or over-designed, with ready-to-wear pieces crafted as more luxurious iterations of familiar favourites and embellished with touches of jewellery, especially in the form of the gold- or silver-finished Maillon Celine necklace that adorned a number of looks.
What were exceptionally impressive (and something that Slimane continually does to almost impeccable perfection) were the infusions of structured outerwear. Masculine coats and blazers crafted from single- or double-face cashmere and vicuna beautifully framed the body and added sophistication to oversized denim jeans.
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Look 50.Image: Celine. -
Look 38.Image: Celine. -
Look 59.Image: Celine.
Sneakers might have been a recurring feature at Celine since Slimane’s era but for autumn/winter 2022, they were almost exclusively traded in for cuttingly sharp pointed booties. Worn with everything from evening dresses to Kaia Gerber’s all-black ensemble (look 32), they’re definitely a silhouette you’d want to keep an eye out for.
Slimane’s obsession with youth, glamour and rock-and-roll is a consistent calling card that has afforded him a legion of fans. But when he does something as straight-forward and undeniably chic as the Celine autumn/winter 2022 womenswear collection, it just proves that he understands just as well the timeless nature of excellent fashion.
View the Celine autumn/winter 2022 womenswear collection in the gallery below.