One could argue that the media landscape has been obsessed with youth since day dot. Even today, when diversity is on the up, it's not unusual to hear about brands chasing teenage YouTube stars or celebrity offspring with a six-figure Instagram following rather than women over the age of 25 with an actual disposable income.
Perhaps that's why the images of Céline Dion, aged 50, lying across the front of her car bonnet in head-to-toe Dior or wearing crystal-embellished £6000 Saint Laurent boots are so brilliant. Women are encouraged to carve a supposedly age-appropriate, different signature style by the time they reach their 30s, but Céline shows that you can have a Rihanna-like approach to getting dressed at any point in your life. Her stylist, Law Roach, who has been credited with turning her into a fashion icon over the past few years believes that's why her style is being so celebrated right now.
"What's really refreshing is everybody is so obsessed with the millennial, and to have her come out and attract as much, if not more, attention for fashion than these people that designers are obsessed with—it's changing the dynamics of who the designers are targeting," Law tells Who What Wear UK. "Because she is proof that a woman of her age can wear these clothes and be cool and sell these clothes just like these young girls. And the bigger difference is that she actually buys the clothes."
Céline Dion wearing Dior at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.
"She is showing other women at that age that it's okay to buy these young, cool clothes," he adds. "We are really obsessed with what is age-appropriate, and I think that phrase shouldn't even exist anymore in our society. Wear whatever you want." Céline approached Law Roach to work with her, as she had noticed his styling work with 20-year-old Disney star Zendaya. "I would probably never put them in the same outfit, but I don't approach it that differently because they are both not afraid to try new things," he says.
Law uses the word "organic" a lot when talking about their styling process. "I wish it was a great story," he said. "But it's not. I keep the things that excite me and that she's excited about. She always wants to wear new designers who she's never worn before, and she really wants to be introduced. She reads every fashion magazine, and so she shows me tears from magazines of things to try." And you can certainly see that in every outfit of hers, as she wears all of the headlining runway pieces from the Saint Laurent crystal boots to the Titanic sweatshirt from Vetements.
Céline Dion at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.
Céline will try anything on, but there is one thing that Law keeps in mind when dressing the icon: He wants her to look like (bet you wouldn't guess this) royalty. "Most recently the gold DSquared2 jacket with the jeans and Gianvito Rossi shoes was my interpretation of modern-day royalty—the style of the jacket was very majestic and DSquared2 did an amazing job making it more urban and tangible to what is happening in culture now. I have this image of her as a queen. I pick these clothes that look very royal but make them tangible. Let's bring the Queen down." But this is not a safe space for the likes of Kate Middleton's nice dresses and nude courts—this Queen waves to her fans through a sunroof in head-to-toe Gucci.
Scroll below to see more of Céline Dion's major looks.
On Céline Dion: Jimmy Choo x Off White boots; Calvin Klein 205W39NYC check dress
On Céline Dion: Sies Marjan suit; Gucci Bag; Manolo Blahnik sunglasses
On Céline Dion: J.W.Anderson dress; Saint Laurent shoes; Hermes bag; Gucci scarf
On Céline Dion: Balenciaga bag; Saint Laurent boots
On Céline Dion: Giambattista Valli Couture dress
On Céline Dion: DSquared2 gold jacket
On Céline Dion: Saint Laurent crystal boots
On Céline Dion: Dice Kayek top
On Céline Dion: Ellery Pre-Fall 2017 pinstripe jacket and trousers
On Céline Dion: Balmain coat, T-shirt and boots
On Céline Dion: Off-White tracksuit
On Céline Dion: Gucci coat; Dior bag
On Céline Dion: Roberto Cavalli suit
On Céline Dion: Dice Kayek outfit; Casadei shoes; Saint Laurent bag
Next up, take our quiz to see which French-fashion icon you are.
