COMING SOON: Celine has relaunched its e-commerce site, but ready-to-wear is not yet part of the assortment.
The site, overseen by creative director Hedi Slimane, marks the brand’s entry into online selling in the U.S., after its launch in France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom beginning in December. Apple Pay will be added to the payment methods offered on the U.S. web site as an exclusive.
The revamped celine.com site features a selection of leather goods, small leather goods, jewelry and sunglasses from the current collection, alongside items from the spring collection, which are billed as “coming soon.” Rtw will be added at a later stage, a spokesman for the brand said.
Handbag styles available for immediate order include the medium Classic bag in box calfskin, priced $4,400, and the mini Luggage in drummed calfskin at $3,100. The black version of the 16, Slimane’s first handbag design unveiled by Lady Gaga on Instagram on Aug. 30, is listed as available for preorder from Oct. 22 priced $4,550.
A Celine medium C handbag in bicolor quilted calfskin.
Courtesy
Prices range from $335 for Animals stud earrings to $24,800 for a Triomphe bag in crocodile skin.
Celine temporarily suspended trading on the site in the run-up to Slimane’s first show for women and men on Sept. 28. Customers accessing celine.com were greeted with a countdown to the runway display.
With the long-awaited launch of its e-commerce site last year, Celine joined the ranks of luxury brands bracing against the onward march of Internet behemoths such as Alibaba and Amazon by shoring up their online businesses.
The French fashion house, owned by luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, had long been reluctant to offer all product categories for purchase online.
Analysts at HSBC forecast the online portion of luxury sales will grow from 7 percent in 2015 to around 12 percent in 2020, accounting for as much as 40 percent of the industry’s growth overall.