They had me fooled with the timing, but the more I think about it, the more amicable, collegial even, it really does seem. I'm leaning toward believing that it was explicitly part of Hedi's job to give Celine a future after him. He aligned his last videos with the fashion week schedule, so it won't look so much like Rider undoing Hedi's eccentricities when he does runway shows during fashion week. Hedi's last menswear show may have already started the transition. Rider can start working in his Riderisms (whatever they are) immediately from there without it coming off as a total non-sequitur.
Heck, they can even follow up the Haute Perfumery (🙄) line with a second parallel perfume line. A different bottle and a different photographer on the campaign will draw a clear distinction without immediately cheapening the excruciating Hedi-ness of Hedi's line.
I suspect the door is open to Hedi working for LVMH in some capacity in the future. And somehow that makes me more curious about where Celine is going in the near future.