Last night in Paris, while some were still scribbling aphorisms about “creative audacity” and the “couture spirit,” Hael Rider was presenting a far more pragmatic take on style: the kind that fits neatly into an Excel spreadsheet built to please the Almighty. Forget stylistic introspection here, we’re talking about average basket sizes, conversion rates, and sell-through percentages.

Now heading CELINE, Rider didn’t bother summoning the ghosts of Hedi Slimane or whispering sweet nothings to the disciples of Phoebe Philo. No he chose to do what any good former Ralph Lauren creative director would: sell. But not some abstract vision or ideal. No, his vision is literally to sell: bags, sunglasses, boots tangible and profitable goods.

The kings of the Deal taught him a simple truth, one Europe still pretends not to see: in fashion, it’s not the designer who has the final word it’s the Bloomingdale’s floor manager in Long Island. Over there, a runway show doesn’t end with a shy bow but with a margin report. And so Rider applies this lesson masterfully, delivering a condensed line-up of potential bestsellers, perfectly calibrated for store racks and TikTok feeds those new catwalks where the algorithm wields far more power than any critic from the New York Times or Canal-luxe, whether you like it or not.

Of course, purists will mourn the loss of audacity, but while they’re busy debating the subversive potential of a thigh-grazing leather skirt, buyers are finalizing their orders, rubbing their hands together. Is it revolutionary? Certainly not. Is it effective? More so than a Balenciaga capsule Happy Meal on TikTok.

But perhaps the real question lies elsewhere: in a world where selling luxury has become an endurance sport, isn’t Rider demonstrating, in his own way, a form of ultra-contemporary pragmatism? Because today, in luxury, playing it safe might just be the boldest move of all and so be it for the poets.

FM