GREAT EXPECTATIONS: The first perfume project under Hedi Slimane at Celine was teased on Instagram on Sunday. The French fashion house wrote in a post that “La Collection Celine Haute Parfumerie” was making its debut, with a cryptic photo of what resembles a grooved, sculptural metallic mold in three parts.
It’s been some time since Celine has introduced a perfume. Interparfums held the brand’s fragrance license between 2000 and 2011, before it was taken back in-house by the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned label, which has not launched a scent since.
Slimane is no stranger to fragrance. While fashioning men’s wear for Dior Homme, the creative director in 2004, for instance, worked on a trio of scents. The colognes he conjured up marked the first since Christian Dior was founded in 1947, and were made to evoke French perfumes of yore.
“Sometimes extreme classicism makes more sense than making something else, and it sometimes feels more contemporary,” Slimane told WWD during an exclusive preview at the time. “I wanted it to be quite disconnected with fashion timing — to signify the idea of longevity.”
His vision for Celine remains to be seen scent-wise, but the brand’s aficionados are keen. Seven hours after the perfume post went live, it had already garnered more than 6,000 likes.