Right out the gate, Michael Rider let it be known that his Celine was one to watch when he made an off-calendar debut at the house last summer. Following up Hedi Slimane is quite the intimidating prospect, but the Washington, D.C. native was uniquely up to the task: he moved to Paris and joined the design team at Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière before jumping over to Celine during the Phoebe Philo era, then returned to the U.S. to head up Polo Ralph Lauren. He gets sportswear, he gets French style (and atelier dynamics); that combination has so far resulted in collections that feel incredibly wearable yet desirable, filled with platonic ideals of outfits.
Rider joined the Paris Fashion Week ready-to-wear lineup for spring 2026. His third runway show—staged at the Institut de France on the Left Bank March 7 for a crowd that included Tracee Ellis Ross, Sarah Paulson, and Natasha Lyonne—confirms a few things we’ve learned about his design language. He’s evolved certain shapes that, in just a few collections, are now hallmarks of his Celine: the high-collar, plus trumpet minidresses with long flounce sleeves, which now inform blazers that flare out high at the waist, styled with cropped kick-flare trousers. We also know he loves a kooky accessory—for winter 2026, he proposes wide-rim bowler hats Diane Keaton would’ve loved, mismatched statement earrings, and sculptural leather scarves.
In a letter he wrote to accompany the collection, Rider said winter 2026 is about “confidence” and “being upfront about it. Speaking about style without irony. Intuition over strategy. Feeling it rather than planning it. Sharpening the pencil. Rejecting the idea of a ‘concept.’”
The latest runway collection also sees Rider riffing on core silhouettes, like the Icone Jacket, just enough so they’re recognizable to longtime fans of the brand. (Winter 2026’s version boasts exaggerated, rounded shoulders.) He’s building on motifs like the Celine charms, the focus of a recent campaign; in addition to necklaces, they appear as embellishments on a silver dress that peeks out from underneath a khaki trench buttoned only at the top.
There’s a humor to the styling—the scarves that cover the bottom half of the face, the bucket hats concealing the eyes, the trousers tucked into one tall boot but not the other. (Some male models also had feathers throughout their messy hair, as if a bird had flown into them. Maybe it’s because Rider is friends with Dan Levy, but it called to mind Moira Rose’s The Crows Have Eyes from Schitt’s Creek.) More importantly, though, each look is masterfully merchandized, easily broken down into individual pieces primed for mixing and matching. They aren’t mandates, they’re suggestions. You can choose your own Celine adventure.
Rider, in the notes, said his goal was to “[make] the things we all dream of finding and wearing… I love when messy, complex, layered inner lives come through underneath great clothes. Thinking about people with style who wear beautiful clothes in a personal way. People you want to look at, get close to, spend holidays with. People with flair. People with bite. Putting on clothes, a look, can change the day. Change how we walk and feel. I love that.”
