From 2000 to 2007, Hedi Slimane, then artistic director of Dior Homme, conscientiously documented the rise of the new rock scene between New York and London. He drew several photographic works from it, including Traineeship (Steidl/7L, 2004) and London Birth of a Cult (Steidl/7L, 2005).
His favorite subjects, which he regularly dressed for their concerts, were prominent bands: The Strokes, Interpol, Razorlight, LCD Soundsystem and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Without forgetting of course The Libertines, the explosive London duo formed by Pete Doherty and Carl Barât, whose creator has remained very close. Their style then becomes the uniform of a generation: the pants are tight, the suits sharp, the ties are worn ultra-thin, we put on leather boots and we don’t forget our fedora hat.
Half models, half groupies
The summer 2023 women’s collection, presented through a ten-minute video on November 17 on the house’s social networks, pays homage to this period. Hedi Slimane, who at the time did not create for women, gives us the feminine counterpart of his masculine silhouette of the 2000s: the pants are glued to the leg – the return of slim! –, baby-doll dresses are in crochet or leather, shorts are worn very short and are fashioned in raw denim or leather.
There are also fitted blazers and supple Perfecto, biker boots and very fine sequined scarves, short dresses with large sequins and suede jackets, but also Spartans going up along the leg as well as handbags. handbag style, worn in the crook of the elbow. We think we recognize the look of the it-girls of the time, half-models, half-groupies, whether they were called Agyness Deyn, Leigh Lezark or Alexa Chung. Without forgetting Kate Moss, who was at the time the companion of Pete Doherty. We can also see a message intended for the famous generation Z (born between 1997 and 2010), fascinated by the style of the 2000s, identified on social networks by the name of Y2K (for “year 2000”).
Filmed on a quay in Saint-Tropez (Var) and in Hedi Slimane’s Kerouac villa in Ramatuelle, this collection is part of a series of Celine shows broadcast on video and taking place in the south of France – Monaco and Nice , previously –, where the creator has lived since 2018. The soundtrack takes up the song of the Libertines Music When the Lights Go Outfrom the cult album The Libertinesin 2004. Also very attached to Los Angeles where he lived for a long time, the designer will present his fall 2023 women’s collection there on December 8, this time with the public.
