Celine’s Problem With Forced Cool

1. I continue to keep an eye on CELINE under the creative direction of Michael Rider.

2. I noticed that the brand has introduced many new bags at different price levels to attract a broader audience. Many of the models presented are distinctive and interesting.

3. It’s difficult for me to focus on the clothes, perhaps because of one key nuance — the styling.

4. While watching the latest show online, I found myself rolling my eyes from time to time as yet another model walked the runway with a deliberately pulled-out section of the collar.

5. This isn’t the first brand to keep exploiting deliberate carelessness on the runway this season. When it appears frequently and is repeated over a long period of time, it’s hard to shake the feeling of a forced image.

6. Celine plays it cool. You can see it even in the way the models walk — quickly, sharply, almost skipping down the runway.

7. Large pieces of jewelry appear from time to time — continuing the theme of oversized belt buckles and bracelets that are being actively pushed in the presentation of the current season, being essentially an entry-level signature piece.

8. I looked through the website several times — photos on models have finally appeared there. Part of the visual language still feels like “forced cool,” sometimes resembling random backstage shots taken from a top-down angle.

9. Here again we see a photo with one trouser leg tucked into the shoe. The same trick appeared in the Dior men’s window display, where one pant leg is tucked into the sock.

10. You see the point, right? When “carelessness” relies on the same repeated tricks, it stops feeling effortless and starts to feel like a set of calculated techniques.

11. The rest of the images, on the contrary, feel stylistically bland. For instance, that trench with the colorful lining — which could easily be considered a star of the season — is styled with flat, almost completely open sandals.

12. Perhaps I’ll eventually stop by the boutique to look at the pieces without these distracting maneuvers and understand how the brand actually feels now.

13. For now, I still can’t focus because of the forced cool instead of chic relaxed Parisian.