Mirror mirror: reflecting on Hedi Slimane’s debut showspace for Celine

By Jack Moss
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Hedi Slimane’s inaugural collection for Parisian maison Celine was one of the most anticipated moments on the S/S 2019 women’s calendar.

For his debut, Slimane erected a show set which resembled an opaque black facade in the grounds of the historic Hôtel des Invalides in Paris. Fascinated by the idea of a wind-up ballerina inside a dark mirror-lined music box, Slimane created an installation pieced together from graphic slices of reflective glass. The drumming by two members of the Garde Républicaine marked the opening of the show, before dark panels gave way to reveal a female model in the midst of the mirror. At its centre, a decadent and minidress-clad version of Slimane’s ballerina figure – evoking the spirit of French New Wave – the kaleidoscopic reflections of her polka dot ensemble symbolising a woman ready to take Paris’ nighttime scene by storm.

Celine's mirrored S/S 2019 show set

Celine’s S/S 2019 show set, conceived by artistic, creative, and image director Hedi Slimane.

(Image credit: Images courtesy of Celine)

Celine's mirrored S/S 2019 show set

Celine's S/S 2019 show set, conceived by artistic, creative, and image director Hedi Slimane.

(Image credit: Images courtesy of Celine)

Celine's mirrored S/S 2019 show set

Celine's S/S 2019 show set, conceived by artistic, creative, and image director Hedi Slimane.

(Image credit: Celine)

Celine's mirrored S/S 2019 show set

Celine's S/S 2019 show set, conceived by artistic, creative, and image director Hedi Slimane.

(Image credit: Images courtesy of Celine)

Celine's mirrored S/S 2019 show set

Celine's S/S 2019 show set, conceived by artistic, creative, and image director Hedi Slimane.

(Image credit: Images courtesy of Celine)

Celine's mirrored S/S 2019 show set

Celine S/S 2019's show set, conceived by artistic, creative, and image director Hedi Slimane.

(Image credit: Images courtesy of Celine)
Jack Moss
Fashion Features Editor

Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*, joining the team in 2022. Having previously been the digital features editor at AnOther and digital editor at 10 and 10 Men magazines, he has also contributed to titles including i-D, Dazed, 10 Magazine, Mr Porter’s The Journal and more, while also featuring in Dazed: 32 Years Confused: The Covers, published by Rizzoli. He is particularly interested in the moments when fashion intersects with other creative disciplines – notably art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and reporting from international fashion weeks. Across his career, he has interviewed the fashion industry’s leading figures, including Rick Owens, Pieter Mulier, Jonathan Anderson, Grace Wales Bonner, Christian Lacroix, Kate Moss and Manolo Blahnik.

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