Throughout his illustrious career in the fashion industry, Hedi Slimane has proven time and time again that he’s a master of creating a complete, multi-layered vision for the historic houses that he’s at the helm of. Building upon his signature aesthetic of immaculate tailoring and the mischievous attitude of rock’n’roll, the French creative director’s conceptualization process spans fashion, architecture, beauty, art, music and film.
This ethos is very much present in Slimane’s work at the Parisian house of Celine. Since starting in 2018, he’s reworked the brand’s look by giving a modern take on the codes established by its founder, Céline Vipiana, who began designing womenswear in the 1960s. Now, this era in fashion and culture has become a source of inspiration for Celine’s latest scent from their Haute Parfumerie collection – Zouzou.
With its notes of benzoin, tonka bean, patchouli, labdanum, vanillin and musk, the perfume is a fantasy on the carefree and joyous attitude of the decade. Its name comes from an epithet popular at the time used to describe young girls with short hair. Inspired by the heroines of the era – French writer Françoise Sagan and gamine film star, Jean Seberg – Zouzou is an ode to eternal youth. The alluring sense of utopic adolescence is further evoked in the scent’s campaign shot by Slimane – starring one of the house’s muses, actress and musician Esther-Rose McGregor.
Words by Martin Onufrowicz
