Louis Louis
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Roughly translated from French press
The regulars of the Sentier district, in Paris, have no doubt already walked along the imposing black porte-cochère which stands proudly under the number 16 of rue Vivienne. When you push the handle, you enter the sumptuous Colbert de Torcy Hotel, a seventeenth-century building classified as historical monuments. For ten years, it has housed the headquarters of the Celine fashion house, owned by the LVMH group (shareholder of Challenges). If its stone walls could speak, they would tell about that day at the end of 2014 when they saw all the employees moving in, enthusiastic, with their boxes under their arms. They would describe three years later, that other day when the then artistic director, the famous British Phoebe Philo folded, leaving room for her successor Hedi Slimane. They would say how, under the impetus of the latter, the turnover has quintupled in seven years, from 500 million euros in 2018 to 2.5 billion today, according to our information. And then they would talk, lately, about the voices rising, the slamming doors and the farewell of the star designer to Vivienne Street.
Several employees summoned
Because on Wednesday, October 2, at 12 o'clock, a press release fell, announcing what had been expected for months: the departure of the director of artistic creation and image. Three hours later, another official communication revealed the name of his successor: Michael Rider, who worked for Celine from 2008 to 2018 where he was design director alongside Phoebe Philo before becoming creative director of the women's line at Polo Ralph Lauren. Since then, on the second floor of number 16, where Celine's creative studio is located, the atmosphere has been heavy.
Several employees of Hedi Slimane, with whom Challenges has exchanged, say they are "shocked" by the way in which the company's management is managing this period. Within 24 to 48 hours of the announcement, several employees of the creative team – three according to the LVMH group, five according to an internal source – were summoned by the human resources managers to discuss their future elsewhere in the group at best, at worst their departure as soon as possible. The first to have been received, came out of her interview in a state of shock, according to several people present on site.
"There is no purge"
Contacted by Challenges, one of the leaders of the LVMH group assures: "The departure of this person has nothing to do with Hedi. There are no departures related to Hedi's. There is no purge. Another LVMH member assures that "the transition is taking place in a harmonious way and that the teams are already working on the next collection, in an extremely serene way". And to add that the number of employees who should leave the company is very low compared to industry standards when an artistic director leaves, and compared to the total of 4,500 employees that Celine has in total.
On the other hand, the designer's relatives with whom we spoke recognize that it is normal for part of the artistic director's team to leave at the same time as him. These executives know that by joining this ultra-competitive small world of luxury, they have accepted a heavy workload and the risk of losing their job at the same time as the designer, against a very generous remuneration and a passion profession. But they denounce the speed and indifference with which Celine's management is managing this transition, as well as the lack of internal communication and support for the teams during this turbulent period.
"We wouldn't have imagined that there would be summonses overnight, they could have waited a week," laments one of them, seeing a lack of consideration for the employees who gave a lot of their time and energy for Celine. "We were shocked by the very quick announcement of the new designer without any word from the management internally to explain or reassure about our fate, continues this source, brushing aside at the same time the idea that the activity would continue normally: We are in the artistic blur. We don't know what we should do, if we should move forward in the collections. »
Strategic differences
These words are of course partially related to a feeling that may seem subjective. But they highlight the gap that has widened in recent months between the management of the fashion house, embodied by its manager Séverine Merle, appointed in 2017, and the creation, represented by Hedi Slimane, who arrived a year after her. Because it was their strategic differences that led to the departure of the designer. According to a source, he would have decided to leave the ship while opposite, the group would have conversely preferred to detain him.
To understand how Celine got there, a step back is necessary. Between Séverine Merle and Hedi Slimane, the relationship has never been idyllic. But it was exactly a year ago, in October 2023, that the conflict took another turn. Two annoyances accelerated the breakup. First of all, there was the cancellation of the Celine parade scheduled for the Gaîté Lyrique on July 3, 2023, due to riots in the suburbs. Months of work for nothing. According to our sources, Hedi Slimane was not consulted before this decision. And he would have lived it all the worse because on the same day, Alaïa's parade on the Pont Neuf had been maintained. Soon after, another incident finished straining relations. The LVMH group considered using the rapper Lisa from the Blackpink group, Celine's ambassador since 2020, as the muse of another house of the group: the perfumer Guerlain. And this, at the time when Hedi Slimane was preparing the launch of Celine in beauty, announced to the general public last March. The last straw that broke the camel's back.
During a muscular exchange, the five-year-old went out of his way, reproaching Séverine Merle for not defending Celine and her project enough against the other houses of the LVMH group. "When you want to make Celine a Chanel, you have to fight, even with internal competition," says a source with the same opinion as him. That's when he would have started thinking about leaving the band. And that, according to several members of her team, the dialogue with Séverine Merle would have broken down. "We ended up with two companies in the company," laments one of them.
A feeling of overpower?
However, putting all the responsibility for the failure of this relationship on Séverine Merle would be exaggerated. In his former professional life at Yves Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane had already had to leave with the then general manager Paul Deneve, who had ended up leaving the company. The reason? The omnipresence of the artistic director. This time, the denouement changes. It was Hedi Slimane who took his bow.
In the middle, the passionate photographer is as much renowned for his brilliant talent, as known for his difficult character and his need for hypercontrol. "There may have been a feeling of Hedi's overpower, notes a fine connoisseur of the sector. He was doing what he wanted to do. "On the other hand, it is not easy for the general director to find her place. "He was both in charge of the image and the artistic direction, so inevitably the role of the general director is reduced," admits one of Hedi Slimane's collaborators, while another slips in: "Some creators are like puppets, but you can't do that with Hedi. Séverine will be able to have more control with Michael Rider. Far from denying the conflict that has polluted the relations at the head of Celine in recent times, the LVMH executive quoted above confirms half-heartedly: "There is a need for dialogue and harmony between management and creation to decide where we put investments. »
However, this type of conflict is not unique to Celine. In luxury homes, the power struggle between the CEO and the creative director is a great classic. When choosing his next position, Hedi Slimane will undoubtedly be vigilant about his future room for maneuver in front of the leader. Rumors see him at ... Chanel.
The regulars of the Sentier district, in Paris, have no doubt already walked along the imposing black porte-cochère which stands proudly under the number 16 of rue Vivienne. When you push the handle, you enter the sumptuous Colbert de Torcy Hotel, a seventeenth-century building classified as historical monuments. For ten years, it has housed the headquarters of the Celine fashion house, owned by the LVMH group (shareholder of Challenges). If its stone walls could speak, they would tell about that day at the end of 2014 when they saw all the employees moving in, enthusiastic, with their boxes under their arms. They would describe three years later, that other day when the then artistic director, the famous British Phoebe Philo folded, leaving room for her successor Hedi Slimane. They would say how, under the impetus of the latter, the turnover has quintupled in seven years, from 500 million euros in 2018 to 2.5 billion today, according to our information. And then they would talk, lately, about the voices rising, the slamming doors and the farewell of the star designer to Vivienne Street.
Several employees summoned
Because on Wednesday, October 2, at 12 o'clock, a press release fell, announcing what had been expected for months: the departure of the director of artistic creation and image. Three hours later, another official communication revealed the name of his successor: Michael Rider, who worked for Celine from 2008 to 2018 where he was design director alongside Phoebe Philo before becoming creative director of the women's line at Polo Ralph Lauren. Since then, on the second floor of number 16, where Celine's creative studio is located, the atmosphere has been heavy.
Several employees of Hedi Slimane, with whom Challenges has exchanged, say they are "shocked" by the way in which the company's management is managing this period. Within 24 to 48 hours of the announcement, several employees of the creative team – three according to the LVMH group, five according to an internal source – were summoned by the human resources managers to discuss their future elsewhere in the group at best, at worst their departure as soon as possible. The first to have been received, came out of her interview in a state of shock, according to several people present on site.
"There is no purge"
Contacted by Challenges, one of the leaders of the LVMH group assures: "The departure of this person has nothing to do with Hedi. There are no departures related to Hedi's. There is no purge. Another LVMH member assures that "the transition is taking place in a harmonious way and that the teams are already working on the next collection, in an extremely serene way". And to add that the number of employees who should leave the company is very low compared to industry standards when an artistic director leaves, and compared to the total of 4,500 employees that Celine has in total.
On the other hand, the designer's relatives with whom we spoke recognize that it is normal for part of the artistic director's team to leave at the same time as him. These executives know that by joining this ultra-competitive small world of luxury, they have accepted a heavy workload and the risk of losing their job at the same time as the designer, against a very generous remuneration and a passion profession. But they denounce the speed and indifference with which Celine's management is managing this transition, as well as the lack of internal communication and support for the teams during this turbulent period.
"We wouldn't have imagined that there would be summonses overnight, they could have waited a week," laments one of them, seeing a lack of consideration for the employees who gave a lot of their time and energy for Celine. "We were shocked by the very quick announcement of the new designer without any word from the management internally to explain or reassure about our fate, continues this source, brushing aside at the same time the idea that the activity would continue normally: We are in the artistic blur. We don't know what we should do, if we should move forward in the collections. »
Strategic differences
These words are of course partially related to a feeling that may seem subjective. But they highlight the gap that has widened in recent months between the management of the fashion house, embodied by its manager Séverine Merle, appointed in 2017, and the creation, represented by Hedi Slimane, who arrived a year after her. Because it was their strategic differences that led to the departure of the designer. According to a source, he would have decided to leave the ship while opposite, the group would have conversely preferred to detain him.
To understand how Celine got there, a step back is necessary. Between Séverine Merle and Hedi Slimane, the relationship has never been idyllic. But it was exactly a year ago, in October 2023, that the conflict took another turn. Two annoyances accelerated the breakup. First of all, there was the cancellation of the Celine parade scheduled for the Gaîté Lyrique on July 3, 2023, due to riots in the suburbs. Months of work for nothing. According to our sources, Hedi Slimane was not consulted before this decision. And he would have lived it all the worse because on the same day, Alaïa's parade on the Pont Neuf had been maintained. Soon after, another incident finished straining relations. The LVMH group considered using the rapper Lisa from the Blackpink group, Celine's ambassador since 2020, as the muse of another house of the group: the perfumer Guerlain. And this, at the time when Hedi Slimane was preparing the launch of Celine in beauty, announced to the general public last March. The last straw that broke the camel's back.
During a muscular exchange, the five-year-old went out of his way, reproaching Séverine Merle for not defending Celine and her project enough against the other houses of the LVMH group. "When you want to make Celine a Chanel, you have to fight, even with internal competition," says a source with the same opinion as him. That's when he would have started thinking about leaving the band. And that, according to several members of her team, the dialogue with Séverine Merle would have broken down. "We ended up with two companies in the company," laments one of them.
A feeling of overpower?
However, putting all the responsibility for the failure of this relationship on Séverine Merle would be exaggerated. In his former professional life at Yves Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane had already had to leave with the then general manager Paul Deneve, who had ended up leaving the company. The reason? The omnipresence of the artistic director. This time, the denouement changes. It was Hedi Slimane who took his bow.
In the middle, the passionate photographer is as much renowned for his brilliant talent, as known for his difficult character and his need for hypercontrol. "There may have been a feeling of Hedi's overpower, notes a fine connoisseur of the sector. He was doing what he wanted to do. "On the other hand, it is not easy for the general director to find her place. "He was both in charge of the image and the artistic direction, so inevitably the role of the general director is reduced," admits one of Hedi Slimane's collaborators, while another slips in: "Some creators are like puppets, but you can't do that with Hedi. Séverine will be able to have more control with Michael Rider. Far from denying the conflict that has polluted the relations at the head of Celine in recent times, the LVMH executive quoted above confirms half-heartedly: "There is a need for dialogue and harmony between management and creation to decide where we put investments. »
However, this type of conflict is not unique to Celine. In luxury homes, the power struggle between the CEO and the creative director is a great classic. When choosing his next position, Hedi Slimane will undoubtedly be vigilant about his future room for maneuver in front of the leader. Rumors see him at ... Chanel.
