Michael Rider’s joyful Celine debut: ‘I’ve always loved the idea of clothing that lives on’

The heavens may have opened just prior to Michael Rider’s debut runway show for Celine – taking place in Paris today on the eve of the city’s haute couture week – but the adverse weather did little to dampen what was a fresh, contemporary outing from the American designer, who previously worked at the house during Phoebe Philo’s tenure (in the meantime, he was creative director of Polo Ralph Lauren from 2018-2004).

Taking place at the Celine headquarters on Rue Vivienne, its courtyard partly protected with an enormous silk foulard which fluttered above attendees' heads, Rider said that he was seeking to create something timeless – an echo of both his former boss, Philo, and his predecessor, Hedi Slimane, who both approached this task in radically different ways (the former did so through a quietly subversive expression of feminine elegance, while the latter drilled down on – and perfected – wardrobe archetypes, particularly those linked with subculture).

Celine S/S 2026: Michael Rider’s joyful debut

‘I’ve always loved the idea of clothing that lives on,’ Rider said in a letter distributed at the beginning of the show. ‘That becomes a part of the wearer’s life, that may capture a moment in time but also speaks to years and years of gestures and occasions and change of the past, the present and the future, of memories, of usefulness and of fantasy, of life really.'

So there were enormous rugby shirts, wide-sleeved marl sweaters, stripey shirts and ties (a nod to the preppy, varsity wear of Polo Ralph Lauren and his native United States); pinched waist blazers with wide shoulder lines, voluminous trousers and jeans with rounded side seams, languid funnel-neck trench coats (a pitch to the Philophile); alongside skinny jeans and riffs on the uniforms of the Parisian bourgeoisie (a little Slimane).

Then there were expressions of craft – a black dress was made from thousands of Celine labels, the sleeve of a biker jacket adorned with stitched-on keys, while jeans were decorated with intricately embroidered flowers – and plenty of Celine logos, across colourful sneaker boots, T-shirts and sweaters.

Any familiarity was purposeful, and clever. After the show, Rider said that he ‘did not want there to be a sense of erasure. There was a foundation to build on. That to me felt modern, it felt ethical, it felt strong.' Indeed, after the financial success that Slimane brought to the house – according to estimates, he doubled Celine’s sales to over €2.5 billion, making it a jewel in the LVMH roster – gut renovation was not necessary.

That said, this was no rehash. Rider’s vision brings a new lightness to the house, embracing colour, humour and play – for a summer collection, it achieved the necessary feeling of a window being opened, of the air being let in. ‘Coming back to Celine, and to Paris, back to 16 rue Vivienne in a changed world, has been incredibly emotional for me,’ he said. ‘And a complete joy.’ His ebullient mood more than translated into this astute debut.

celine.com