So the story goes, in 1971, Céline Vipiana found herself momentarily stranded on Place de l’Étoile after her car broke down at the busy Paris junction that houses the Arc de Triomphe. It would prove a lucky coincidence for Vipiana, who founded eponymous French fashion house Celine in 1945, the brief diversion making her notice the distinct decorative motif adorning the chain-link fence that loops around the Parisian landmark. A version of the design would soon become the Celine monogram, decorating handbags, buckles and scarves, which were quickly adopted by the city’s bourgeoisie.
Over half a century on, the ’Triomphe’ monogram continues to be an emblem for the house, reintroduced by Hedi Slimane, whose tenure began in 2018 (the French designer says he reimagined the monogram on his first day). Now, his streamlined, modernist version is perhaps best known for appearing on the house’s ‘Triomphe’ bag, which in its various iterations ‘embodies the very essence and values of the couture house’, appearing time and again in Slimane’s collections.
