CELINE unveils a new logo and the “16” handbag under Hedi Slimane, marking the start of a new era for the brand. Slimane’s design pays homage to CELINE’s 1960s heritage with modern updates.
Changing another storied French house’s logo after dropping the “Yves” in Saint Laurent back in 2012, is no other than the new artistic, creative and image director of Celine, Hedi Slimane. As he finally unveiled the newest logo to the public, it also gave us another glimpse of what his vision will be for the brand in the upcoming years.
Slimane initially teased the fashion world with a sneak peek of the label during Lady Gaga’s trip back in Paris toting his first design for Celine—a structured black leather bag with gold clasp detailing that was personalized with her initials (L.G.). But just recently, the brand informed WWD that Slimane finally named his debut handbag as the “16,” which is based from Celine’s headquarters and atelier at 16 Rue Vivienne in Paris.
With his aim to also pay homage to the brand’s past, his design for the new logo was directly inspired from the original and historical version of Celine that existed in the 60s with a modernist typography in the 30s.
On a three identical video posts on the French label’s Instagram account, the caption said “the accent on the ‘E’ has been removed to enable a simplified and more balance proportion, evoking the Celine collections of the 1960’s where the accent wasn’t used often.”
Another subtle change for the latest logo was the spacing between the letters for it has been balanced out by bringing each letter closer together. The 60s version of the logo including the word “Paris,” will also be reinstated within the clothing and on the packaging.
Finally, to make sure that he successfully put his mark on the historical French label, Celine’s Instagram posts under the brand’s former Creative Director Phoebe Philo has been totally wiped out to symbolize a new era under Hedi Slimane.
With the revamped logo being based from the historical past of the French label, we may well assume that Celine’s upcoming collection under Slimane for menswear and couture will channel the design aesthetic of the house when it first started. But one thing is for sure, Hedi Slimane’s 16 handbag will launch on November 12 that’s available in three sizes and range of colors, while his first full ready-to-wear collection for Celine will be shown on September 28 in Paris Fashion Week.
This article has been updated on Sept. 14, 2018.