Remember that photo shoot Celine Dion was doing in Paris a few weeks ago when she was posing with lamppost and dogs? Turns out it was for the September issue of CR Fashion Book, just before she kicks off her tour.
Looks like PEOPLE was given access to the first look and this is not your typical fashion editorial. They shot her all distorted, everything out of proportion, all arty and off-balance and, of course, she was game for it. As she tells the magazine, she’s game for anything these days:
“I mean, five years ago I would never let [a photographer] near up past my kneecap, you know? Who would go under my tutu? Nobody. I mean, nobody. My husband, that was it. But I was just like, ‘Alright, here we go!'”
These days, Celine is style. She is the highlight of Paris Fashion Week. She’s the one they all want front row at their shows. She’s the Queen of Feelings and Fashion. Is she though? Is she a fashion queen? Celine has another word for her attitude:
“I never really like to see myself as the queen. I’m not playing queen, I don’t want to be the queen. I’m the boss,” she clarifies. “That’s different. I’m the mother, I’m the boss, I’m in charge of my decisions with my team. I try to make the best of myself, to accomplish something, to always put the bar as high as I can.”
Let’s drill down on this, because last time we talked about Celine it was after Page Six reported that her best friend Pepe Munoz had “fully taken over” control of her life, her business, her career. At which point her team released a statement in support of Pepe, shutting down the rumours that Celine, the poor widow, was victim to a charlatan. As I said at the time, I wasn’t worried and I’m still not worried.
I did have questions though and they were mostly about why she and Law Roach are no longer collaborating on her looks. But here’s what I’ve heard since – Law had some health issues at the end of 2018, early 2019, and while he took time off to recover, a new stylist replaced him. But I’m told that that had less to do with Pepe than with Celine’s demands. Law works with so many other artists, and he already spends a lot of time in partnership with Zendaya. Celine, at her level, would require someone to be completely dedicated to her. That’s the word on Celine: no one has ever said she’s stupid or unaware; rather she’s involved, she’s present, she can be tough, and she can be hard, especially when it comes to maintaining and managing her brand. She is very much aware of where she belongs in the business, her status in the industry. Nobody is brainwashing Celine the way it was suggested that Pepe is brainwashing her. In fact, it may be the other way around.
Law Roach calls himself an “image architect”. He’s hands on with strategy, there to develop not just a wardrobe but the bigger strategy around what that wardrobe is meant to achieve. Law is hands on. Go back to what Celine just said about being the boss. There’s only one boss: HER. So the way I see it, Pepe isn’t bossing anyone, he’s not controlling anything. Pepe’s the one taking orders. And he’d probably be a lot more amenable to taking orders than a creative like Law. Law isn’t the type to bend to Celine. Pepe I could see bending. Pepe I could see on call all day every day. That, to me, is the only read on Celine. Any other version of it is amateur hour. They don’t know her at all.
For more of Celine in CR Fashion Book, check out PEOPLE.
