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

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.