PARIS (Reuters) -Famed fashion designer Hedi Slimane has left LVMH’s Celine brand, the company said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of designer departures as the industry grapples with a downturn in sales.
Slimane joined Celine in 2018, quickly making his mark at the historic label with his distinctive aesthetic.
“Under his creative and artistic direction, Celine has experienced exceptional growth and established itself as an iconic French couture house,” the French luxury giant said in a statement.
No details were provided about Slimane’s next steps, but his departure will fuel further speculation as the industry undergoes a number of top designer changes, with the most coveted position, creative director of Chanel, unfilled after the departure of Virginie Viard in June.
LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault set ambitious targets for Slimane, telling investors shortly after he joined that LVMH aimed to grow annual revenue at Celine to between 2 billion to 3 billion euros within five years, from close to 1 billion euros at the time.
While the company does not break down revenue by brand in its results, growth in luxury goods sales has slowed sharply this year, as middle-class shoppers in China hold off on purchases due to the property slump and job insecurity in the world’s No. 2 economy.
The change follows other moves at LVMH, including its investment in one of the industry’s strongest performers in recent years, Moncler.
It said this week it had sold off streetwear label Off-White, founded by the late Louis Vuitton menswear designer Virgil Abloh, which has struggled to find its footing as shoppers have favoured more discreet, so-called quiet luxury.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Kirsten Donovan)
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