CELINE is one of the best things going in luxury & Summer 2026 is merely proof that creative director Michael Rider's output is as hot as the summer sun.
Ever since new creative director Michael Rider took over, CELINE has been on an endless hot streak. Rider had big shoes to fill, being tasked with not only retaining but amplifying the LVMH-owned maison's vitality as the global luxury market seeks a path forward. Rider's vision is a path forward.CELINE Summer 2026 provides a perfect entry point, encapsulating everything that makes Rider's work good in a succinct selection of stylish summer stuff.
If you can make hot-weather dressing look good, you know you're onto something.The new collection is lensed at and around the beach, which is itself typical of warm-weather luxury shoots but not like this.CELINE's proposition isn't just fancy stuff that happens to be worn to the beach but actual clothes so good that you'll want to wear them to the beach.When we visited the CELINE FW26 showroom earlier this year, we were struck by the experience of being surrounded by not just clothes but outfits, complete looks that demonstrate the purposefulness of Rider's vision.Beyond being merely "nice" stuff, CELINE is proposing nice stuff that can and should be worn in real life. Classic shirts, easy sweaters, the perfect washed jeans, killer leather shoes worth wearing everywhere.
Even CELINE's suits, which are as smart as you'd expect, are defined by an ease not inherent to double-breasted peak-lapel tailoring. The shoulders are a bit dropped even as the waist is gently nipped, giving a shape that's as dialed in as it is relaxed.Is it so crazy to imagine slipping into CELINE's baby-blue sweater, crisp collared shirts, and khaki trousers for a day at the beach? This is how sharp-dressed students might've sat oceanside back in the day, and it looks so darn good that it really just makes everyone else look underdressed.
Rider's CELINE is demarcated by this sort of stuff at every turn, subtly smart twists on no-brainer staples. The shirts, the sweaters, the slacks, the slides, even the dyed pullovers are all familiar. Just better.
Much better. So much better, you'll wanna wear 'em to the beach.