Glossary

Celine Vipiana refers to the founder of the French upscale fashion label Celine now owned by LVMH.

Celine Vipiana started her business in 9145 during war time in Paris,, when women were not encouraged to be independent. Yet, at 24, Vipiana moved to her own beat and started by designing shoes for children. This led to the opening of her first boutique for children at 237 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore in France

Celine together with her husband Richard opened a small boutique in Paris that sold luxurious, high-end children shoes. Crafted with detail and style, the children shoes brought Celine into a suscessful retail business.

After the World War II, Celine Vipiana started to leave her legacy as fashion designer when she created a new type of contemporary luxury that would be available to everyone. This all started with their humble boutique of children's shoes. After the vast amount of praise the received for their merchandise, they expanded their business to a second store. Their ventures in the shoe industry provided a consistent product that maintained a high quality style of meticulous detail. The success of Celine eventually led Celine Vipiana to the production of fine leather goods, handbags and women's shoes in the late 50"s. This brought in a generous following of elegant clientele.

In this momentous turning point of their business, they created the Barrette Moccasin, which provided a new implementation of shoe decor called the "horse bit”.

In the 60"s, the design duo presented their first ready to wear collection along with a new line of casual shoes called Inca. Their ready to wear line combined the elements of Parisian sophistication with leisure while their Inca collection of moccasins was upgraded with a heel. From the 60's on, Celine took off in the world of fashion by providing great luxurious handbags, shoes and clothing for not only the elite, but for the entire world.

The fashionable Celine brand continued to grow in success and popularity. Throughout their existence, their notable name of Celine prompted them to open stores all around the world including their native country of France, London, United States and Japan.

In 1987, the fashion business giant of luxury goods, LVMH (also known as Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) acquired Celine by means of shareholder Bernard Arnault. In 1997, the popular American designer, Michael Kors took over as creative director of Celine. After Kors's leadership of the brand ended, LVMH appointed Roberto Menichetti who had previously worked for Burberry and Jil Sander, as the creative director. Despite the creative director juggling that the brand has encountered, they have still managed to stay popular with fashion admirers all around the world.

To this day, the Celine label retains the dignity that was first helmed by Celine and Richard Vipiana. With each collection, Celine stays contemporary by utilizing traditional methods. Celine's contemporary garments hold the glamour of Parisian style and the confidence of alluring femininity. In the production of each collection, every detail is not neglected. From the conceptual sketch to the runway, the designs remain flawless. The label of Celine is not scared to experiment with different elements of fashion. Their unexpected twists and turns of exotic patterns and fresh new modern looks keep the brand exceptionally prestigious among the many fashion designers in the world.