Hedi Slimane responds to Celine debut backlash. Ever since Phoebe Philo announced she was leaving Celine back in December 2017, the fashion world has been anxiously waiting to see what the fashion brand would look like under her replacement, Hedi Slimane.

Last week, he debuted his first collection at Paris Fashion Week and the response has certainly been mixed.

Well now, Slimane has responded to the criticism for the first time.

As part of the episode of 5 Minutes de Mode by by Loïc Prigent, which covered the debut collection, Slimane commented on the reaction via email.

“It’s very off-putting and I still feel like they’re talking about someone else,” he said of the criticism. “The spirit of the show was light and joyful, but today, lightness and insouciance are being questioned in fashion.”

He also noted that some people didn’t seem to like that he, a man, took over from a woman, Phoebe, as head of Celine.

“It’s possible that there is a surprising subtext of latent homophobia there,”

He also wrote that he faced similar backlash after taking the helm of Saint Laurent (formerly Yves Saint Laurent).

“There’s politics, conflicts of interest and cliques, a predictable viewpoint, but also astounding exaggerations of conservatism and puritanism.”

The main issue people seemed to have with this collection is that it was too similar to his work at Saint Laurent.

Which is maybe why he’s facing similar criticisms.

Either way, it doesn’t seem like he cares about what his critics think.

Hedi Slimane responds to Celine debut backlash