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Menswear is taking centrestage in fashion

The "co-ed" fashion shows are a sign that men are now as important as women.

Everyone in the fashion industry could only talk about one thing last week, the appointment of Hedi Slimane as Creative Director of French fashion house Celine. He replaced the much loved Phoebe Philo, who was at the creative helm of this label for almost 10 years - and in that time she made Celine the new home of cool for the executive woman. It was minimal and fuss-free, yet attention was paid to details. It was for the woman of style and substance and Philo's direction turned Celine into one fashion's most style-setting labels.
It was hard to think who could possibly fill the large shoes she left vacant, but Hedi Slimane's appointment is one that has got the industry excited.
Slimane left Yves Saint Laurent two years ago (during his tenure he re-christened the maison, Saint Laurent), brought sexy aesthetic appeal to the women's wear and put the label back to the forefront of fashion, and literally revived its menswear. It was at Dior Homme that Slimane first became the one to watch as creative director of this menswear brand. He introduced the super skinny silhouette for men. Fashion maestro, Karl Lagerfeld, famously lost 90lbs so that be could fit into one his suits.
And while there is no question that Slimane will bring freshness to Celine's women's collections, he will also introduce a men's line to the fashion house.
A first for a brand that was started in 1954 by Parisian Celine Viviane and her husband Robert. It actually started as a label that was all about custom-made shoes for children, and then moved into leather goods before ready to wear.
Having been acquired by the luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton-Moet Hennessy (LVMH) in the 90s, it became all about women's ready to wear.
It makes sense that LVMH now feels that it has to look at men. Dior and Louis Vuitton, their two leading fashion houses, are already very active in menswear.
The men's wear market is growing at 2.3 per cent a year, which may not sound like a lot, but is better than the growth in women's market. Euromonitor has projected that the global men's fashion market will reach $33 billion by 2020, a growth of 15 per cent in five years. In 2015, the menswear revenue was at around $29 billion. This seems strange as brands like Gucci have decided to do away with a separate men's fashion shows and showcase men's and women's wear together. Perhaps rather than this being a sign that menswear does not deserve its own platform these "co-ed" fashion shows are a sign that men are now as important as women. And perhaps soon you will hear of fashion houses that have reinvented the way women dress, like Oscar de la Renta, look at introducing a menswear line.
In fact last year there was a strong rumour that Slimane would join Chanel to head its menswear, and this French luxury brand has never really fully developed their menswear. Karl Lagerfeld, 84, a true legend in the industry, has been at Chanel's helm since the mid 1980s. For a few years now there have been rumors that the maison will take on an heir to be trained under Lagerfeld. And since Lagerfeld is a self-proclaimed fan of Slimane, he looked like the obvious candidate, and could get his feet wet with menswear. And he could finally turn Chanel into a brand that mattered when it comes to men.
Well that is where Celine is now heading - and you can believe that this September fashion will be waiting to see Celine's first menswear line.
Sujata Assomull is the Consulting Fashion Editor at Khaleej Times