Fashion designer Hedi Slimane leaves LVMH's Celine
Hedi Slimane exits Celine
Michael Rider named to replace Slimane
Rider worked alongside former Celine designer Phoebe Philo
Adds Slimane's successor in paragraph 2, analyst comment in paragraphs 4-5, 17
By Mimosa Spencer
PARIS, Oct 2 (Reuters) -Fashion designer Hedi Slimane has left LVMH's LVMH.PA Celine brand, the company said on Wednesday, marking the latest high-profile departure from a fashion label as the industry grapples with a sales downturn.
LVMH has named Michael Rider as Slimane's successor. Rider, who will start his new job early next year, worked alongside former Celine designer Phoebe Philo at Celine for over a decade.
Slimane's departure will intensify speculation about upheaval in the industry, where a number of top designers have moved jobs. One of the most coveted roles, creative director of Chanel, remains unfilled after the departure of Virginie Viard in June.
Creative directors most often depart when they no longer have a positive impact on sales, said Luca Solca, an analyst with Bernstein.
"I don’t think this is an exception," he said of Slimane's exit, noting that, like artists, creative directors tend to produce variations on a theme, which can become predictable.
Solca said Slimane had done well at the label, likely more than doubling brand revenue to around 2.5 billion euros.
Slimane could not be reached for comment.
Slimane joined Celine in 2018, quickly making his mark at the historic fashion house with his distinctive rocker-chic aesthetic.
He is also known for the skinny silhouettes that he offered when he was at Dior Homme and at Kering's PRTP.PA Yves Saint Laurent, famously inspiring Karl Lagerfeld to slim down to fit into his Dior designs.
The designer rarely granted interviews and maintained tight control of all aspects of brand image, shooting advertising images himself and holding fashion shows outside of the traditional calendar.
At Celine, Slimane sought to update the brand's French bourgeois aesthetic for a younger audience, with ad campaigns featuring model Kaia Gerber in cropped tops and faded jeans, accessorised with a baseball cap and small, leather purse.
He also introduced a menswear line at Celine, as well as fragrances and makeup.
LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault set ambitious targets for Slimane, telling investors shortly after he joined that LVMH aimed to grow annual revenue at Celine to between 2 billion to 3 billion euros within five years, from close to 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) at the time.
In January, at LVMH's annual results presentation, Arnault said that Celine was enjoying "great success" thanks to Slimane, and topping 2 billion euros in sales.
The company does not break down revenue by brand in its published earnings statements.
Growth in sales in the luxury goods industry in general has slowed sharply this year, as middle-class shoppers in China hold off on purchases due to the property slump and job insecurity.
Barclays analyst Carole Madjo noted during a recent trip to China that Celine was facing "brand fatigue" and was likely to be underperforming in the country.
The change follows other moves at LVMH, including its investment in one of the industry's strongest performers in recent years, Moncler.
It said this week it had sold off streetwear label Off-White, founded by the late Louis Vuitton menswear designer Virgil Abloh.
($1 = 0.9051 euros)
Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Kirsten Donovan and Jane Merriman
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
