News feed
As the name suggests, it began as a dig at the new Celine era. An Instagram account that pays glorified tribute to the 10 years Céline was helmed by Phoebe Philo, and one ominous post of a truck emblazoned with the Celine logo slowly sinking into an icy river. The caption? “Going Down”.
The thirst for pre-Hedi Slimane product was swift following his first collection for the label last September. Sales for Philo’s now-collector’s items skyrocketed as simultaneous backlash from Slimane’s Saint Laurent-reminiscent pieces rushed in via social media. Acting on the zeitgeist, Canadian-based student and Céline super-fan Gabrielle Boucinha locked in an Instagram account named OldCéline. In under a month, she had garnered over 55,000 followers and now has over 196,000.
Not only had she hit the nail on the fashion head, but it has since been widely supported by fashion’s-most-highest in the form of people like Virgil Abloh, Tommy Tom and Pernille Teisbaek. Even influentials like Leandra Medine have been known to regularly tag @OldCéline when they wear something from the former empire. And more than a visual scroll, the account became an instant platform and brand for angry, disparate Philo fans (or Philophiles as they call themselves) to converge. Especially since the official @Celine account was so brutally wiped clean and replaced with a Sliman-ified Tetris of waify-rock images.
So, perhaps it’s par for the course that Old Céline itself has now launched a product line. More merch than a collection, the pieces include tees and scarfs sporting ‘Old Céline 2008 – 2018’ and ‘Old Céline: May Cause Strong Feelings Of Nostalgia’ motifs. A fun way to prove that a grudge runs deep? Or, ironically, pieces that might be more profitable than the latest from Hedi Slimane?
Either way, Philo must be giggling into her cocktail somewhere. While we suppose not too many of them are hanging in Slimane’s wardrobe.
SHOP NOW
