It’s a rare opportunity when a luxury brand offers up its entire universe of product categories in New Zealand, particularly when it’s outside of its own stores.
Adding another jewel in its collection of international luxury brands, Parnell-based luxury emporium Faradays will welcome Celine to its portfolio with a range of ready-to-wear, leather goods, jewellery, and sunglasses in June.
Faradays, the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Constance and Edward von Dadelszen, founders of fashion label Dadelszen and vintage accessories and jewellery label Love & Object, have been working closely with Celine’s global head of wholesale on the brand’s arrival to Aotearoa. The brand will share shelf space with other luxury brands including Alexandre Vauthier, Givenchy, Loewe, La Perla lingerie, Ginori 1735, Stories of Italy and the couples’ Dadelszen collection of men’s and womenswear.
While Celine’s accessories like sunglasses have been available to the market for a number of years via subsidiary outlets including Sunglass Bar and Sunglass Style, this will be the first official availability of seasonal collections for womenswear starting with the brand’s ‘Age of Indieness’ collection for winter 2023 showcased in L.A. in December. A limited selection of sunglasses and accessories will also be available from DFS Galleria next month.
Along with womenswear, the Faradays offering will include pieces from its now iconic Triomphe collection, which was launched in 2018, and its couture eveningwear collections, which will be a unique point of difference, allowing clients to have direct access to ordering direct from Paris.
“We already have a strong pre-order business for couture pieces from several our other international designers, and via our bespoke offering at Dadelszen (our sister company), so presenting this side of the offering from Celine felt like a natural and very exciting extension of what we already provide for our clients — we know there will be a strong desire for the Celine point of view when it comes to eveningwear,” says Constance, who also serves as the creative director for Faradays. “Having seen the collections in person last week in Paris, I can confirm they are some of the most beautiful works of art I have ever seen.”
The negotiations with Celine occurred long before Faradays opened its doors in October 2021, explains Constance. “There was immediate interest from Celine in what we were doing down here, however, understandably, they were looking for proof of concept before considering a partnership.”
“Fortunately, being a part of the LVMH conglomerate, they were able to have visibility on our success as a business through other key brands in their stable, namely Loewe and Givenchy. And from our side, the curation of brands is thought through with precision. As part of my role, it is incredibly important for me to consider every element of Faradays, from the balance of individual designer aesthetics to visual merchandising, down to every tiny element within my scope.”
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“For example, the music played in the store, the scent when you walk in (or when you open one of our packages), the texture of the ribbon on our gift wrap. Each touch point must be pure to our vision to offer a uniquely exceptional experience for clients that we strive for and, in this case, a beautiful home for our brand partners.”
Over the years, Celine has become a symbol of Parisian chic with a louche L.A. attitude, thanks to creative director Hedi Slimane’s trans-Atlantic background — born in Paris, and having famously lived and worked in L.A., a city that has often been a source of reference throughout his design career — including his prior tenure as a menswear designer for Dior Homme and creative director for Saint Laurent. As for the pieces that will resonate with local customers, Constance is confident the market is ready.
“In my opinion, Hedi is a visionary. Under his reign, Celine has become a brand that one can wear from dawn to dark, and it can fit into any lifestyle. Of course, we expect the accessories to be very well received, but I am excited about the ready-to-wear offering; the soft tailoring, the enviable denim collection, and their exquisite leather pieces are all incredibly wearable, covetable, and importantly, the most beautiful quality.”
Celine will be available to shop at Faradays in June. [Editor’s note: Celine will be arriving later in the winter season than expected, with all global stores impacted by the delay].
