Holkham Hall, Norfolk, England.
A knight appears, but a modern one. He enters the dirt path of Holkham Hall, astride on a horse named Jupiter. He is a former Etonian, clopping down the gardens to the opening strum of Philippe Rameau's Opera Ballet Les Indes Galantes.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Hedi Slimane asks, and this is where THE BRIGHT YOUNG begins. For the Men's Summer 2025 collection, the CELINE visual architect has put forth a baroque runway presentation and film.
As a student at the Ecole Du Louvre in the 80s, Hedi Slimane penned an essay on Anglomania. He was deeply interested in a cast of British figures: Beau Brummel, James Napier Tennant, Cecile Beaton. The English way of being is so wonderfully antiquated. But it also rode on the tails of time until it blossomed into infamy. Thirty years on, THE BRIGHT YOUNG is Slimane's thesis. Shall we compare it to a summer's day? So long live the youth, as it gives life to thee.
Below, we take you through the CELINE 2025 menswear summer collection.
Step into the CELINE Garden...
What is earth and petrichor without scent? All models perfume in Hedi Slimane's new fragrance 'A Rebours'. The fragrance summons Jean Des Esseintes in name and spirit, a the fictive dandy created by Joris-Karl Huysman in A Rebours (1884). The notes are oak moss, cedar, nutmeg, coumarin, cashmeran.
As for the melodies, they interweave a tale fitting for the fabled history between the French House and its chosen home of England. Les Indes Galantes first performed on March 12th, 1736. It shuttered into insignificance until its revival in 1957 for a performance for the Queen of England on her official visit to France.
The clothes...
We are treated to trimmed jackets and boating blazers, all stitched with summer cashmere. The traditionality of THE BRIGHT YOUNG is a homage in clothing, the canvas-made tailoring is English cloth. Rewoven from 1920s summer cashmere, the summer collection is a story of new life. The white summer cashmere flannels are a budding nod to Francis Scott Fitzgerald in 1922, at Hotel Eden Roc in the heart of Antibes. The Trompe L'oeil couture rowing jackets are all constructed in CELINE's ateliers, the patches gleam under the sun in burnished silver. This harkens back to the early 20th century, in tradition with the military uniforms of the British. Indisputably, they are big on tradition.
The models make their way across the garden in Richelieu shoes, monks and tapered derbies. These too present an anachronistic portrait of the 1920s, revived in 2002 by the English.
CELINE suits accompany damask waistcoats or embroidered stitching, all threaded with the 1920s motifs of English field flowers. Hand-sewn trimming and sequins line black Barathea wool. Crystals and pearls of black, gold and silver are scattered across the silk faille gillets. In CELINE's ateliers, everything is handsewn. You can find the motifs of the forever gothic symbol, the English rose, sewn into the presentation. Slimane's touch is in everything, down to the padded seats of the English Black Bicycles, wicker baskets and canoes. Everything is adorned with the Norfolk cut flowers, and everything is in full bloom.
Watch the release of THE BRIGHT YOUNG, below.
