CELINE AH2026 MICHAEL RIDER CALFSKIN AND SLIM LINE

The calfskin jacket closes at the chest. The shoulder sits where it naturally should. The trouser is cut high at the waist and grazes the leg without breaking at the shoe. Michael Rider's AH2026 Celine menswear, photographed by Andrea Spotorno in black and white, does not announce itself. It presents what it is. That restraint is the argument Rider is building at Celine. ## The First Model Walked Out in High Waist Trousers Michael Rider's AH2026 Celine menswear collection is built around slim tailoring that reads as dressed without reading as costumed. The high waist trouser is the foundational silhouette: cut above the natural waist, elongating the leg line, positioning every jacket worn over it as a deliberate element rather than a default layer. The coat is cut close to the torso, shoulders sitting naturally rather than structured outward, a construction that reveals the body's proportions rather than imposing new ones. This is not Hedi Slimane's Celine. Slimane built an aesthetic around rock and roll adjacency: slim but with voltage, deliberately referential to a specific 1960s British scene. Rider is building something quieter. Calfskin jackets with crocodile embossed lambskin shoes is a pairing that requires confidence in the actual construction rather than the reference point. The crocodile emboss on lambskin adds visual texture without adding visual noise. ## Michael Rider Spent Ten Years Under Phoebe Philo Michael Rider served as design director under Phoebe Philo at Celine from 2008 to 2018. That decade produced some of the most referenced thinking in contemporary luxury ready to wear: the idea that clothes could be quiet, precise, and self-assured without performing either ease or difficulty. Rider then spent seven years at Polo Ralph Lauren as creative director of the women's line, a position that deepened his understanding of how American sensibility grafts onto European luxury construction without either assimilating or dominating. Hedi Slimane directed Celine from 2018 to 2024, rebranded it from Céline to Celine by removing the accent, and built a vision of luxury around youth culture and rock energy rather than quiet permanence. When Rider was named Celine's creative director in early 2025, the expectation in fashion media was a pivot toward something adjacent to the Philo years. The [Michael Rider Paris boutique opening and Triomphe Mini 01 launch](/quick/celine-michael-rider-triomphe-mini-01-3-dots-paris-2eme-2026-p4n8k2mx) showed that his approach is iterative rather than revisionist: he is not rerunning Philo's Celine. He is writing his own chapter using the house's actual archive rather than its cultural memory. ## Calfskin, Crocodile Embossed Lambskin, and a Belt That Anchors Everything The AH2026 menswear introduces leather not as a statement category but as a practical one. The calfskin jacket cut close to the torso is a coat that happens to be calfskin, constructed for wear rather than occasion. The crocodile embossed lambskin shoes carry texture without volume. A leather bracelet with large decorative charms appears as the single whimsical element in the collection; its placement, against otherwise measured construction, reads as punctuation rather than distraction. Rider's framing for the collection centers on three words: memories, usefulness, and fantasy. Those terms describe exactly what is present in every AH2026 look. The coat is useful, the tailoring carries memory of Celine's archive, and the charms are the fantasy. All three appear without any one dominating. The material combination across AH2026 also answers a question about where Rider positions Celine menswear in the market. Calfskin at the jacket level and crocodile embossed lambskin at the shoe level place the collection squarely in the price tier where quality of construction justifies the cost rather than label recognition carrying the argument. That is a different sell than Slimane's Celine, where the energy of the visual world was half the product. Rider is asking the clothes to do more of the work. ## Andrea Spotorno Shot It in Black and White for a Reason Andrea Spotorno's AH2026 photography removes color from the equation. Black and white strips calfskin back to form and silhouette, removing the immediate sensory signal of the material and forcing attention onto construction and fit. A black and white calfskin coat photograph tells you the shoulder is correct or it is not. There is no warmth of leather to compensate for a weak line. That is a confident editorial call for Rider's first AH menswear at Celine. [The AMI Paris SS2027 show at Place des Victoires on June 24](/quick/ami-paris-15-anniversary-thank-you-friend-tour-c7k2m9nx) positions a brand built on wardrobe usefulness over fifteen years at a similar price register. Rider is making the same argument from a different heritage: clothes constructed correctly, presented without decoration, justified by the material and the making. AH2026 menswear is Rider's most complete statement at Celine to date. The house's next chapter is not a departure from any previous creative director's vision. It is Celine finding the version of itself that works when the emphasis moves from who made it to how it was made.