Rumor Mill: Is Hedi Slimane at Celine Taking on Anna Wintour Over Emmanuelle Alt?

When asked about Vogue Runway’s failure to cover French luxury brand Celine’s spring 2022 virtual show, a Vogue source said “It was not our decision to not cover spring 2022, but we look forward to covering the brand’s next show,” writes WWD.

The problem, according to WWD, is Celine’s artistic, creative and image director Hedi Slimane’s immense frustration and displeasure with the departure of Emmanuelle Alt from her position as EIC of Vogue Paris, now renamed Vogue France.

Slimane has banned people from his shows before — the entire fashion staff at New York Magazine and Cathy Horn, writing for the New York Times, were banned from the Saint Laurent show in October 2012. Horn’s ban was for writing in 2004 [paraphrased by Horn to New York Magazine] “without Mr. [Raf] Simons’s template of slim tailoring and street casting, there would not have been a Hedi Slimane — just as there would never have been a Raf Simons without Helmut Lang. Fashion develops a bit like a genetic line.”

What could have upset Slimane? The Vogue-related changes began in December 2020, with the announcement that Anna Wintour would assume greater responsibilities as Vogue global director and Condé Nast chief content officer, while continuing to oversee Vogue U.S.

Simultaneously, the widely-praised and celebrated top editor at British Vogue, Edward Enninful, was promoted to European editorial director of Vogue for the markets owned and operated by Condé Nast. Those markets — which include the U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Spain — saw the departures of EICs at those Vogue titles.

Eugénie Trochu was named as Alt’s successor in France, but with the title of head of editorial content. She announced in October that Vogue Paris would become Vogue France immediately. The assumption is that Enninful will play a significantly larger role in European content creation and sharing, including greater synergies between American Vogue and European titles.

A spokeswoman for Celine dismissed the rumor that Celine had pulled both show invites and advertising from Condé Nast — and/or Vogue Runway — over Slimane’s displeasure with Alt’s departure.

AOC notes that: “WWD also understands from sources that Slimane has expressed his frustration to Vogue global director and Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour and hit the brakes on some advertising with the Vogue brand.”

For her part, Emmanuelle Alt styled an excellent fashion story featuring Rianne Van Rompaey for a late November issue of M le Magazin du Monde. AOC admits to being impressed with the freshness — and we were not alone. Sometimes, change is good for all parties involved.