Fans of Céline, or should we say, Celine, have found themselves discussing among fellow fashionistas a subtle change that happened to the LVMH label over the Labor Day weekend. The brand has decided to drop the accent from its logo, and will be using Celine from here on out.
This can only be attributed to Celine’s new image, artistic and creative director, French designer and photographer Hedi Slimane. Slimane was announced to follow in the footsteps of Phoebe Philo earlier this year and completely assumed the position by February. The extremely private personality kept upcoming endeavors strictly under wraps, only letting clues into the wild every once in a while. The newly designed bag he reportedly gifted Lady Gaga received considerable coverage from the press. Further interest was spurred through the musician’s posts on her Instagram account. The two were known to share a long history.
Rebranding once a new creative director takes over is not unique to Celine’s situation. Burberry revealed a newly-minted monogram and logo upon Riccardo Tisci’s stepping in, and Calvin Klein’s logo underwent a makeover through Raf Simons. It isn’t even new to Hedi Slimane himself; he was also credited for shortening Yves Saint Laurent into just Saint Laurent during his stint as the fashion house’s creative director.
The move could be beneficial to Slimane when putting into consideration the big shoes that he’ll be filling in Philo’s absence. It was with Philo, after all, that Celine has firmly established its label as a women’s brand. Moreover, the change is generating a buzz in line with instating a new director, and is encouraging more interaction with the brand. As they say, any publicity is good publicity.
The new Celine logo was introduced through the label’s Instagram account, which was previously purged following the announcement of Slimane’s assumption. Three posts were initially uploaded, the first of which simply said “INTRODUCING CELINE NEW LOGO #CELINEBYHEDISLIMANE”. The two succeeding posts were justifications behind the revamping of the logo, explained in both French and English.
Celine without the accent is said to be inspired by the maison’s logo that was used back in the 1960s. At the time, the accent over the last E was often not included. The gaps between the letters are now noticeably smaller, too. This time, the typography takes styling cues from the 1930s.
The accent isn’t the only thing being slashed from the logo. “Paris” will be saved for the packaging as well as the apparel. Meanwhile, campaigns for new collections will only bear the word “Celine”.
Image credits: Instagram/Celine, Instagram/Lady Gaga, Marc Piasecki, Vogue/Irving Penn
