Celine Brings the French Riviera to Harrods
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LONDON — The sun and Celine.
The luxury French brand is taking up space on the ground floor at Harrods for its summer Plein Soleil capsule collection until June 14, with a wide window exhibition display and an in-store pop-up.
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The collection is inspired by the French Riviera and Saint-Germain-des-Prés, both places dear to the brand’s creative director Hedi Slimane.
“Celine is synonymous with understated elegance, and we are honored to host the brand for their inaugural London pop-up, a rare and sought-after experience by Hedi Slimane,” said Josie Gardner, head of accessories at Harrods.
The pop-up will be followed by the launch of Celine’s Haute Parfumerie in the Harrods beauty hall later this year.
The capsule features Celine monogrammed deck chairs, hammock, wooden fans and a small racket set with a harness.
Slimane staged the brand’s spring 2023 show in Saint-Tropez, which was revealed online in November, more than six weeks after the conclusion of Paris Fashion Week.
The designer settled in Ramatuelle, in the gulf of Saint-Tropez, when he arrived at Celine in 2018.
Slimane has previously shot films for his collections in Nice and Monaco, part of the French Riviera trifecta.
Last year, Harrods was back in the black for the year ending Jan. 29, according to figures released on Companies House. The luxury retail department store reported a profit of 41.7 million pounds after tax, compared to the 57.3 million pound loss in the prior year due to COVID-19 and Brexit.
Sales surged by 35.5 percent to 581.9 million pounds despite the store being closed for 10 weeks between January and April 2021. However, the ease of lockdown returned Harrod’s core customers and international visitors, especially from the Middle East.
The company’s transactional revenue in the period was 1.56 billion pounds, up 42.6 percent compared to the previous period’s 1.09 billion pounds.
The London store made a pretax profit of 51 million pounds after losing 68 million pounds a year earlier; simultaneously the store has lost more than 400 workers, bringing it to a total of 3,511 employees.
“2021 saw the business begin an encouraging recovery despite the continued, although moderating, impact of the pandemic. Our performance was greatly impacted by our Knightsbridge store being closed for 10 weeks during the third lockdown, international travel remaining subdued, and the suspension of the VAT Retail Export Scheme,” said Tim Parker, chief financial officer at Harrods.
“We also continued to invest in our physical and digital offering during the pandemic, showcasing our confidence in the outlook for the business. Trade performance toward the end of the year was particularly encouraging, highlighting the strength of our long-standing customer and brand relationships as well as the continued resilience of the luxury market,” he added.
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