Front Row at Celine With Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos 

As Franz Ferdinand’s leading man, Alex Kapranos knows a thing or two about rock-and-roll style. (You’ll often find the singer and guitarist performing in cool, slick suits.) Small wonder then that the Scottish musician would find himself front row at Celine’s fall 2020 show in Paris last night. Creative director Hedi Slimane is famous for his rocker sensibility, often inviting to his shows a host of music stars who reflect his singular aesthetic.

“I’ve always loved his pure approach and thirst for music,” says Kapranos, who remembers first meeting Slimane back in 2004. “We were recording The Black Sessions in Paris and he was a shy figure taking photographs on 35mm in the background as we set up. He’s a kind and sensitive guy. His introversion was a contrast to what so many of us expected from the world of fashion.”

Today the singer is drawn to the “radical classicism” that Slimane brings to Celine. (His favorite piece in his own wardrobe is “a sleek black silk shirt with a collar I’ve never seen on anything else before.”) But he insists he has always felt an emotional connection to the designer’s work, even during Slimane’s Saint Laurent days. “I always thought his clothes looked like how we were trying to make our records sound. We both also share a joy in the discovery of an idiosyncratic piece of vintage clothing, from college jackets to a leather or a duffle coat,” he says.

At the Celine show there was plenty of nostalgia to go around. Slimane showed sharp suiting for him and her, juxtaposed against tons of retro, 1970s-style detailing (think checkered coats and ruffled blouses). For Kapranos, that is just the kind of inspiration he needs to experiment with his own closet, both on and off the stage. “I keep my eyes open for new ideas that I can twist and make my own among the clothes,” he says. “I perform every day: I’ve always enjoyed dressing up.” He was particularly taken by the array of rich textures in the collection—dark velvets, heavy leathers—and was into all of the cool flared trousers too. “I can imagine wearing the capes and buttoned boots; they were very inspiring,” he adds.

Perhaps more than anyone else in the front row, Kapranos appreciates the performative aspect of the runway. “I think of a show in a similar way that I think about a gig: a huge buildup of anticipation, then an explosion of ideas,” he says. “The difference is that it is over in 15 minutes instead of being taken on tour around the world.”

Below, Kapranos takes Vogue inside his Celine show day.