Rockstars – different histories, converging styles

Before we start: The approach to Brand Assessments

The first assessment! Before we compare Saint Laurent Paris and Celine, allow a quick introduction into what we will be doing from now and how.

Last time we established the concept of target customer style and identified two strategic guidelines for brand positioning linked to it. We assume that they should be applicable for the luxury groups LVMH and Kering and we determined what they should manifest as: A table that puts the brands of LVMH and Kering in order, with target customer style as ordering criteria.

Starting with this part we will test this theory with the following approach:

We pick a target customer style, and we match brands from the LVMH and Kering portfolios. How? After deciding for a style, we set the stage by creating a persona, a description of someone who embodies the vibe of this style – you will need some self-humour for these parts that will mostly be built on exaggeration and prejudice.
We will then identify brands from the LVMH and Kering portfolios that serve this style, and we look at how they match up to validate or falsify our original observation.

Rockstars

Waking up in yesterday’s low waist jeans, oversize tee and with a post sushi puffy face. Double Espresso and a cigarette – breakfast for champions. Their mother was a model in the 80s and the genes have made it to the next generation, lucky you…

It is fucking cold outside, but the black leather jacket has to do the job yet again over another old metal band t-shirt; actually, let’s go for the tight and cropped white tee today. Same jeans and boots, done.

Time to go outside. Forgot the sunnies… always take the sunnies! Now, time to go outside. Only 8h until the first Vodka Soda, just make it through the day.

The obvious pair

Celine (LVMH) and Saint Laurent Paris (Kering) are a good starting point to test our theory as they make an obvious pair – both brands create for people drawn to a rockstar aesthetic. Below you find two pictures from are recent runway of both. 

Celine Look 51 Spring23
SLP Look 20 Spring23

Both looks are styled with slim boots, a tight bottom, and a wider top. The mid-section is held together by a belt. Shoulders are more pronounced for Saint Laurent in this one. In this look SLP is showing a coat, but the brand has had a similar biker jacket as the one from Celine as part of its carry-over collection for years.

These two looks could be worn by the just same person depending on the context they’re in, e.g. casual or business.

So, after a first look, it looks like we can match them up today, but going back in time, Celine and Saint Laurent come from quite different backgrounds.

A brief look at the past

Saint Laurent Paris is the namesake label of founder Yves Saint Laurent, commonly praised as one of the greatest designers of all time, he headed Christian Dior at only 21 years old, from 1957 to 1960. Yves Saint Laurent was well-known for his distinct lines, strong shoulders, and his modern approach to the womenswear category including his famous tuxedos, first presented in 1966.

 

In 1961, Saint Laurent founded his eponymous label. Even though being a couturier by profession, his approach was also very entrepreneurial. In his own label, Saint Laurent was one of the first designers to create a full ready-to-wear line, thereby democratizing fashion and making luxurious clothes available all year round. The brand additionally offered Menswear starting in 1969. Kering bought the brand Yves Saint Laurent in 1999 and has held its shares ever since. Yves Saint Laurent, the person, remained with the brand until 2002. Today the creative direction is under Anthony Vaccarello.

 

 

It’s rival, Celine, was founded in 1945 by Céline Vipiana as a luxury make-to-order (kid-shoe) brand and they began producing women’s goods in the 1960s. The brand then continued to venture out into further areas such as fragrances and leather accessories – because of her success she captured the interest of investors. After initial investments were taken by Bernard Arnault (owner of LVMH) in 1988, Celine went through a period of four different creative directors until Phoebe Philo took the helm in 2008. Philo created a distinct language at Celine and established a cult following for her feminine and minimal collections – the Phoebephiles. It was the first time the brand saw broad commercial success after being bought by LVMH. Her achievements in the womenswear category were recognized with two major awards as designer of the year in 2010 by the BFC and 2011 by the CFDA. Philo held the creative direction until 2018.

 

Hedi Slimane succeeded her in the same year, and with his appointment the brand first started offering menswear. This is also the point, where the distinct timelines of Celine and Saint Laurent Paris converge. 

Why? Before becoming Creative Director at Celine, Hedi Slimane held exactly that position at Saint Laurent.

 

We can pinpoint Hedi Slimane as being the reason for the congruence in the brands’ styles today.

Slimane’s Impact

After being appointed respectively to Yves Saint Laurent in 2006 and Celine in 2018 Slimane imposed his own codes on each of the houses. Both times, he started off with nothing less than changing their Logos and the brand names: Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent Paris and Céline to Celine.

Next to his knack for a clean brand name and logo, Hedi Slimane is synonymous with the rockstar aesthetic – ultra-slim, sleek yet bold, reduced in the color palette but loud if worn in entirety. Think back to the two pictures at the top – none of the individual pieces particularly scream at you, but the look as a whole is very distinct and captivating.

Slimane already created for this aesthetic during a tenure at Dior Homme (2000 – 2007).

(Dior Homme 2005, Look 2)

After his appointment and first collections at Celine the designer had even been criticized for always pulling off the same look. On the other hand, his fans call him reliable and modern-day rockstars thank him.

 

LVMH already knew Slimane from his time at Dior (owned by LVMH too). They must have known what bringing him in meant for Celine. I strongly believe we can therefore consider it as a direct answer to Saint Laurent’s success under his direction and therefore as a strategic decision to turn upside down Celine and engage in the rockstar aesthetic.

Since the rockstar look is nevertheless working for Saint Laurent – Revenue growth from 353 million EUR in 2011 to 3 billion EUR in 2022 – Kering has no reason to change the look and is also committing to the Hedi-legacy (even though they have recently returned to a serif logo).

 

Both these motivators result in the converging looks between the two brands. The strategic decision-making behind it makes absolute sense considering the assumptions that we have developed in Part 1.

 

For now, remember: if you don’t find anything at SLP, look across the street – that’s where you will likely find Celine.

Comparison of products as found on respective websites

Sources: 

navigate the noise with me and be first to read the latest articles