Captioned Indie Summer, Hedi Slimane’s SS23 Celine womenswear conjured a melodic timewarp between his current work at the French fashion house, and his years dressing and documenting the raucous rise of the British indie scene through the early 00s. (Further reading: the new Meet Me in the Bathroom film adapted from Lizzy Goodman’s bestseller.)

Presented as a short film set on the French Riviera – from the coastal walkways of St Tropez to Slimane’s own ‘Villa Kerouac’ beach house in Ramatuelle – original likely lads, Carl Barât and Pete Doherty soundtrack the occasion, shifting the mood north towards London town. As The Libertines’ Music When The Lights Go Out echoes across white sands and through palm trees, that aforementioned timewarp cranks up a notch. (The Libertines were consistent figures in Slimane’s rock photography, including the highly-covetable 2005 photo book Birth of a Cult, which chronicled eighteen months in the life of Doherty.)

What made The Libertines so brilliant was their ability to twist fundamentally British tropes with European sensibilities – nodding as much to Thomas Hardy as ​​Françoise Hardy. This cross-channel spirit was in full drive across Slimane’s latest Celine offering – which reprised the designer’s agenda-setting early 00s silhouettes and stylings: re-cut for a new era. Baker boy hats, Breton tops, skinny scarves and skimpy denim shorts. Leather jackets, tailored parkas and military buttons. Crochet crop tops, suede biker boots with open buckles and mirrorball babydoll dresses.

Here, jackets are defined by sharp-edged collars just like those Slimane debuted at the beginning of the 2000s while shaping Dior Homme – and in turn, contemporary menswear – as tailoring follows suit, drawn through narrow shoulders and skinny jeans (waists lowered to the hip). As headlines declare skinny jeans to be dead, Slimane has his own thoughts on the subject – bringing them back with purpose. 

Everything Slimane does comes with detailed footnotes: firstly, the totally authentic and uncompromising cultural lynchpins that burn through his oeuvre; and then comes the visceral rush.