In April, the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology published a study in which researchers sought to decode that most elusive of social currencies: coolness. The peer-reviewed paper identified six core attributes of what it termed “cool people” — per the paper, “cool people tend to be powerful, hedonistic, adventurous, autonomous, open, and extraverted,” in case you were wondering — though its reception outside academic circles was, predictably, skeptical. It turns out that those often perceived as cool tend to bristle at the suggestion their essence can be measured. There’s nothing less cool than proclaiming yourself so.
Besides, this editor wonders whether the researchers could have saved themselves the trouble of quantifying coolness by simply waiting a few months for Michael Rider’s debut at Celine.
Image courtesy of Celine
Image courtesy of Celine
Held in Paris on the eve of Couture Week, amid a litany of creative director shuffles, Rider’s show was one of the season’s most highly anticipated debuts. When Rider stepped into the role last October, he did so with no small weight on his shoulders. Celine, after all, is a house shaped by seismic personalities: notably, the exquisite minimalism of Phoebe Philo, as well as Hedi Slimane’s indie sleaze and rock inflections, still lingered on the brand’s aesthetic. Each era bent the house’s identity in distinct ways, but both had a commonality: they were cool. For a reason you can’t quite put your finger on, Celine has always been a cool brand, and while there was little doubt around the ability of Rider — who returns to 16 rue Vivienne after seven years and a stint designing at Ralph Lauren — to produce a commercially viable collection, the question was whether he’d be able to inhabit this lineage and reinterpret it in a way that was distinctly his. Judging by his debut, Rider may have done just that.
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Maybe it was in the way the sleeves of the monogrammed tees were cuffed, or how the funnel-necks peeked out from buttoned coats. It could have been the ease of an asymmetric cardigan, or the keychain-like brooches hung from knitted necklines, or collars only half untucked. Whatever it is, Celine spring/summer 2026 was cool.
Image courtesy of Celine
Image courtesy of Celine
Image courtesy of Celine
Image courtesy of Celine
There were, of course, nods to Rider’s predecessors: he brought back the Philo-era Phantom bag and flirted with the slender silhouettes so famously favoured by Slimane (though, with a welcome injection of colour). There were plenty of scarves — a large one on the roof of the show venue, then tied around necks, draped beneath jackets and tucked into popped collars. There were plays in proportion — eighties shoulders and calf-grazing bermuda shorts, tailored jeans and billowing moto jackets, oversized jewellery and dainty belts. There were ties and tee-shirts and sunhats and sweaters. In short, across 72 looks, there was no shortage of contrast. Celine spring/summer 2026 was a study in proportions and deliberate dissonance, where mismatched elements felt, somehow, harmonious. The collection had the energy of somebody effortlessly cool pulling something from the back of their closet and making it look intentional. That elusive, offhand brilliance ran through the collection like a thread: things that shouldn’t work, but absolutely do — and really, really well.
Image courtesy of Celine
Image courtesy of Celine
Rider said in a press release to media following the show, “Celine stands for quality, for timelessness and for style, ideals that are difficult to catch, and even harder to hold on to, to define, despite more and more talk about them out there.”
He’s right about that: Celine stands for the slipperiest and most-discussed ideal of all: cool.
