CÉLINE Shops in Liverpool

The House CÉLINE

CÉLINE was founded by Céline and Richard Vipiana in Paris in 1945. The two Parisians designed and distributed made-to-measure children's shoes for a sophisticated clientele. In 1959 women's shoes were added to the range and thus guaranteed the first international success of the brand. In 1966 the product range was further expanded by handbags, belts and gloves. In the 70s CÉLINE Couture Sportswear caused a sensation: Slim cut trousers, functional shirts and sporty blouses which found enthusiastic customers, particularly in the United States.

Bernard Arnault, today’s CEO of the luxury group LVMH spent 540 million US dollars to gain control of the company in 1987. A rather quiet decade followed and no significant interest for the house was shown by the fashion press, until American Michael Kors became the new head designer of the house in 1997. Kors revived CÉLINE as an absolute must-have, especially the handbags which drew the attention of the fashion world back to the brand, making the retirement of the designer in 2004 all the more agonizing. It was not until 2008 that CÉLINE was able to live up to and surpass its earlier success.

Phoebe Philo, who worked as Stella McCartney's assistant and then succeeded her as creative director for Chloé, took over the creative leadership of CÉLINE. Thanks to new, straightforward cuts, Philo brought the spirit of an independent and elegant woman to the brand’s designs. Straightforward and sophisticated - the CÉLINE style is always unmistakable.


The Portfolio of CÉLINE

Besides the stylistically prominent ready-to-wear collection, Philo also designed shoes and jewelry for CÉLINE. In addition, highly successful handbags, leather accessories, and a collection of sunglasses were also launched over time.


The Bestseller

Handbags are among the bestsellers of the label: a strong brand recognition, innovative shapes and luxurious materials are the recurrent features of each collection ensuring enthusiastic hysteria at their ownership. It is quite usual to be placed on a waiting list of several months for a bag by CÉLINE.

Every season the house surprises its customers with bags that combine expediency with classic design. The "Trio Messenger Bag" is one of the smaller bags and is available in many colors. Slightly larger are the "Trapeze" and "Luggage Phantom", which are both particularly well accentuated in a python style. The "Cabas" offers enough space for everything a woman needs during the day, and the "Classic Box Bag" is one of the it-bags seen being carried by celebrities and fashionistas.

The empire of the house includes approximately one hundred mono-label stores worldwide - CÉLINE is further distributed through a selective network of the best known international department stores such as Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods (London) and Galeries Lafayette.