Returning to Paris with a new creative director in tow, Celine took 16 Rue Vivienne by storm with their Spring 2026 Ready-To-Wear Collection. Marking his creative directorial debut at the French House, Michael Rider’s artistic prowess seeped through each and every precise stitch of his first Celine collection. Though Rider is more than familiar with the house itself, having spent a decade working under Phoebe Philo as design director, proceeding his work at Balenciaga with Nicolas Ghesquière.

Adorned with pleats, ruffles, dramatic structures and sharp angles, the collection’s elongated silhouettes feature lengthy tailored coats with definitively flared shoulders, ballooning slacks tethered by a tuck into the collar of a boot, and layers upon layers upon layers. Neck collars and wrist cuffs less-than-shyly peek out from underneath the look’s topmost component, adding an extra pop of color in the way an interior accent wall would. Patterned scarves can be seen wrapped around the necks and arms of some, drawing attention to the sophisticated anatomy of their respective look, with sweaters slung over the shoulders of others in a preppy-esque manner.

Rider’s work with both Philo and Ghesquière are reflected in this graceful combination of varying profiles, airy flounces and pronounced color blocking, which, in a way, pays homage to his own journey with design. Even so, each bespoke piece in the collection’s chic composition is nothing short of Rider’s own distinct creation, even being worn by the likes of Naomi Watts, Théodore Pellerin, Alanis Morissette, Dev Hynes, Vincent Lacoste, Mustafa the Poet and many others.

Celine’s latest chapter is that of a stone well filled to the brim with nostalgia and emotion, its waters threatening to spill over the lip with the slightest break in surface tension. In this installment, the timelessness of the house meets the changing of the times, yet somehow still holding on to the heritage of the past. The pieces in this collection are not just an elegant edition to one’s facade, but a new addition to the life of the wearer, representing the capture of a moment, and the reflection of the moments that came before.