Celine will host a show in Los Angeles in December

Hedi Slimane is returning to Los Angeles. Yesterday, WWD broke the news that Celine's next FW23 show will be held in California on December 8 while the SS23 collection that was not shown in Paris during last fashion week will be presented through a video clip during November. The non-adherence to the Paris schedule is unusual but not unheard of - especially considering how the timing is so misaligned with the rest of the fashion calendar. At the moment both the release of the video clip and the location of the Los Angeles show have not been revealed. Certainly it will be a location linked to the mythology of the City of Angels, given both how Slimane likes to set his shows in locations with rich cultural heritage and how, in a 2018 interview, the designer himself lamented the gradual loss of authenticity that globalization was bringing to the city he moved to in 2008 and where he had created so many of his collections as well as his famous photo journals.

Los Angeles is thus reconfirmed in its role as a new fashion destination after the Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Dior shows, bringing back the big fashion houses on their pilgrimage through locations far from their usual venues. The show among other things will mark Slimane's return to the California runways after his celebrated Saint Laurent show held at the Palladium in 2016. The decision to opt for a destination show is certainly aimed at capitalizing on Celine's growing relevance, confirmed by LVMH's latest quarterly report that spoke of strong growth for the French brand.