It hasn’t escaped our notice that Céline Dion (she of awe-inspiring vocal range and heart-stirring, tear-jerking power ballad fame) has somehow become 2017’s least likely, yet most deserving, fashion hero.
It began, as all good stories do, with a semi-ironic Vetements screen print hoodie. When the singer of such classics as My Heart Will Go On and It's All Coming Back To Me Now was photographed last year in an oversized sweatshirt bearing the image of a soggy Kate and Leo never letting go, super-imposed against a sinking Titanic, she was hailed as a surprising master of knowing, self-referential street style. Throw in the fact that Céline had recently teamed up with Law Roach, stylist to red carpet risk-taker Zendaya, follow it up with a stream of triumphant appearances at Paris Couture Week wearing everything from Valli couture to Virgil Abloh's streetwear brand Off-White and the Anna Wintour seal of approval (her #celinetakescouture-tagged images appeared as part of a US Vogue Instagram takeover) and high fashion has a new Queen. Aged 49, the singer is having a major renaissance: a Dionaissance, if you will.
This week, Céline launched the latest stage of her fashionable plan for world domination with the arrival of her debut handbag line, exclusively at US department store Nordstrom. The nine-piece collection all sits under the £250 mark, and balances the singer's outré fashion tendencies (see: a faux leather clutch embellished with a huge golden honeycomb pattern) with more classic sensibilities.
Described as the 'pièce de résistance' of the collection, the Octave leather satchel is as chic and practical as any investment bag, with the added advantage of having 'Céline Dion' engraved on the clasp. The bags also have musically themed names ('Octave' is joined by 'Symphony'), and will later be joined by a range of luggage and small accessories. Definitive proof (as if we needed it) that it's Céline Dion's world, and we're just living in it.
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