Two decades on from her death, French author Françoise Sagan is having something of a moment. First, there is the upcoming film adaptation of her breakout novel Bonjour Tristesse, a melodrama of teenage lust and disillusionment set in the Côte d'Azur which Sagan published in 1954 aged just 18 (it would make her a sensation). Starring Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang and Lily McInerny, the new film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month and marks the directorial debut of writer Durga Chew-Bose.
And this weekend in Paris, Hedi Slimane looked to Sagan as inspiration for his latest Celine womenswear collection, presented via a short film titled Un Été Français (it would mark the first time in four years that the designer has shown his womenswear collection to coincide with Paris Fashion Week, which is currently taking place in the city). It was not Bonjour Tristesse, though, which served as the collection’s starting point – rather La Chamade, another tale of teenage disillusionment and lost love. It traces the brief, heady relationship between the carefree Lucile and penniless publisher Antoine in post-war Paris, fated by Lucile’s desires to live a life of luxury. It was adapted into a 1968 movie by Alain Cavalier, starring Catherine Deneuve as the flighty Lucile.
