Released today, a new short film by Hedi Slimane revisits the designer’s S/S 2023 Celine Homme collection, held this past June at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Titled ‘Dysfunctional ’, the much-anticipated show marked Slimane’s return to the physical runway and closed out men’s fashion month for the season.
The location, first constructed in 1937 for the Paris International Exhibition, was one of particular resonance for Slimane. 20 years prior, while the space was still being transformed into the contemporary art gallery it is today, the French designer showed his A/W 2002 collection for Homme among the unfinished space (Slimane was the house’s menswear creative director at the time; attendees, including the late and Pierre Bergé, watched on in rooms mid-construction). As such, Slimane’s return last month also coincided with 20 years of the Palais de Toyko, which was completed not long afterwards. ‘Hedi always had a fascination for its art deco monumental architecture,’ read the collection’s accompanying notes. ‘Hedi wanted to pay tribute to the institution and remember this moment in his menswear reform.’
Celine Homme S/S 2023 campaign. Photography by Hedi Slimane
The short film provides an alternative look at the S/S 2023 menswear show, which took place in one of the wings which run alongside the gallery’s main forecourt. On the evening, a large crowd had gathered outside the venue, hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the show’s many high-profile attendees – notably Lisa from South Korean pop group Blackpink (who has previously starred one of Slimane’s collection films) and fellow K-pop star V of BTS, who were joined by actors Eddie Redmayne, Park B-gum and Thomas Brodie Sangster at the show. In flickering black and white footage, Slimane captures the frenzied reaction to each star’s arrival, the crowd’s screams interspersed with the short’s soundtrack by upcoming New York band Gustaf (the same original composition which accompanied the show itself).
Other footage captures the show’s golden set, designed by Slimane himself and reminiscent of a blown-up Alexander Calder , as well as the S/S 2023 Celine Homme collection both on the runway and in a series of moving portraits of the various models. ‘An unrelenting aesthetic vision that is defined by the fusion of the high-luxury of the Celine atelier and a rebellious, rock and roll sensibility,’ . ‘A defiant return to Slimane’s roots… [riffing] on his house signatures while opening up new pathways of vision’.
Watch the S/S 2023 menswear film below. §
