{"id":18061,"date":"2022-02-02T13:13:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T09:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=18061"},"modified":"2022-04-23T13:14:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-23T09:14:14","slug":"phoebe-philo-gospel","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/phoebe-philo-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gospel According To Phoebe"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"grazia
Spring 2002, Spring 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2005, Fall 2005, CHLO\u00c9. Fall\/Winter 2008-2009, Fall\/Winter 2008- 2009, Spring\/Summer 2010, Spring\/Summer 2010, Spring\/Summer 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2011, Spring 2011, Fall\/Winter 2012, Fall\/Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Spring 2012, Spring\/Summer 2015, Spring\/Summer 2015, Spring\/Summer 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2017, Spring\/Summer 2018, Spring\/Summer 2018, Spring\/Summer 2018, Spring\/ Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2018, CELINE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WORDS GRACE O\u2019NEILL<\/strong>
\nART KIMBERLEE KESSLER<\/strong><\/p>\n

What makes a fashion icon? In our era it\u2019s a phrase\u00a0that\u2019s difficult to cleanly define. Thanks to Instagram,\u00a0designers, models, and It-girls come in and out of\u00a0vogue with breakneck speed, and quiet achievers with\u00a0career longevity are often overlooked. But if you\u2019re\u00a0looking for a good working definition, your safest bet\u00a0is to start with Phoebe Philo<\/a> and work backwards.\u00a0The British designer, best known for her tenures at\u00a0the French heritage maisons<\/em> Celine and Chlo\u00e9, creates\u00a0clothes that reduce otherwise sensible women to\u00a0histrionics. The New York Times<\/em> called her \u201cthe Chanel\u00a0of her generation\u201d. The Guardian<\/em> called her \u2018Female\u00a0Gaze\u2019 aesthetic the most influential sartorial movement\u00a0since Dior\u2019s \u2018New Look\u2019 in the 1960s. So where has she\u00a0been for the last four years?<\/p>\n

\"Grazia<\/p>\n

To understand Philo\u2019s future \u2013 namely, the eponymous\u00a0label she is launching with backing from LVMH in\u00a0early 2022 \u2013 it is essential to understand her past. The\u00a0Paris-born, London-based designer began her career\u00a0at Central Saint Martins, where she met and quickly\u00a0bonded with fellow student Stella McCartney. For\u00a0the first few years of her career, Philo worked under\u00a0McCartney when she took over the reins from Karl\u00a0Lagerfeld at Chlo\u00e9. When McCartney left to launch\u00a0her namesake label in 2001, the then 28-year-old Philo\u00a0stepped into the creative director position herself.\u00a0It\u2019s difficult to overstate the impact Philo\u2019s five years\u00a0at Chlo\u00e9 had on modern fashion. Not only was her\u00a0boho-inspired girlish aesthetic a commercial hit \u2013\u00a0she increased Chlo\u00e9\u2019s global sales by 60% \u2013 it was\u00a0a cultural hit too. Her wide-leg, high-waisted jeans,\u00a0chunky wedge sandals, Grecian-style chiffon dresses,\u00a0and array of cult handbags (the Chlo\u00e9 Paddington\u00a0being the best example) became the ubiquitous look\u00a0of high-end Noughties style. In a 2008 interview with\u00a0the journalist Hadley Freeman \u2013 conducted before\u00a0Philo had designed a single piece for Celine \u2013 Freeman\u00a0called Philo \u201cthis century\u2019s most influential designer of\u00a0womenswear\u201d on the basis of her Chlo\u00e9 tenure alone.<\/p>\n

But of course it was at Celine, where she took over\u00a0in 2008, that Philo solidified her status as a fashion\u00a0god. At Chlo\u00e9 Philo crafted the wardrobe of the\u00a0mid-Noughties It-girl. At Celine, then a languishing\u00a0French heritage brand, she wanted to create the\u00a0uniform of the sophisticated working woman. Philo,\u00a0then 38 and the mother of two young children, quickly\u00a0established an aesthetic MO for the new Celine woman:\u00a0tasteful tailoring, unexpected splashes of colour,\u00a0exaggerated silhouettes, and unfussy, sometimes\u00a0clunky accessories \u2013 simple gold earrings, puffy\u00a0oversized clutches, \u2018ugly\u2019 shoes. The look, defined by\u00a0Philo as \u201ccontemporary minimalism\u201d backstage at her\u00a0debut show, went on to define the look of mid 2010s,\u00a0inspiring the likes of the Olsen twins\u2019 The Row, Elin\u00a0Kling\u2019s Tot\u00eame, and Catherine Holstein\u2019s Khaite. It felt\u00a0like a visual palette cleanser from the gauce-chic velour\u00a0tracksuits and Ugg boots that defined Y2K dressing,\u00a0and it struck a deep chord with a generation of working\u00a0women who didn\u2019t necessarily find empowerment or\u00a0sex appeal in bodycon dresses and six-inch heels.<\/p>\n

\"grazia
CELINE Spring Summer 2015 Campaign, starring Joan Didion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Philo\u2019s artistic execution, including her minimal,\u00a0Jeurgen Teller-lensed campaigns and her choice to\u00a0cast a then 81-year-old Joan Didion<\/a> as the face of the\u00a0Spring\/Summer 2015 campaign, established Celine as\u00a0the thinking woman\u2019s brand. Her handbags, among\u00a0them the Phantom, the Trapeze, and the Trio, became\u00a0cult favourites, while her fan-base \u2013 self-identified as\u00a0\u2018Philophiles\u2019 \u2013 spanned from hard-to-please fashion\u00a0editors to the still-emerging Kardashian family.\u00a0\u201cShe always had those key fashion moments \u2013 but her\u00a0designs are incredibly timeless,\u201d says Fiona Stuart,\u00a0founder of the West London vintage store Rellik.\u00a0\u201cThey are always made with the most gorgeous fabrics,\u00a0and always cut really well. They\u2019re very feminine but\u00a0have also got a tomboy streak. It\u2019s kind of a feminine\u00a0masculinity. I re-read a fantastic quote from Phoebe\u00a0the other day, she said: \u2018After my break, it felt better for\u00a0me to work on an idea of a wardrobe than too much\u00a0trend. I worked hard to create things that stand the test\u00a0of time.\u2019 That\u2019s always what the clothes felt like, as part\u00a0of a timeless wardrobe, rather than part of a trend.\u201d<\/p>\n

When, in 2018, Philo announced she was leaving\u00a0Celine after a decade at the helm, fashion types\u00a0went into a protracted state of mourning. In Paris,\u00a0a clique of well-heeled front row regulars including\u00a0Yasmin Sewell, Gaia Repossi, and Giorgia Tordini,\u00a0gathered at the Place Dauphine, dressed in their\u00a0finest Philo threads, to mourn the end of an era.<\/p>\n

Speculation about where Philo might go next was\u00a0rampant \u2013 some suggested Chanel, others Ala\u00efa or\u00a0Bottega Veneta (the latter was a position her director\u00a0of ready-to-wear, Daniel Lee, would go on to fill\u00a0with aplomb).\u00a0But, in keeping with the woman who once declared\u00a0that \u201cthe chicest thing is not to show up on Google\u201d,\u00a0Philo simply disappeared. Her successor, Hedi Slimane,\u00a0soon arrived, not only scything the brand\u2019s famous\u00a0l\u2019accent aigu,<\/em> but overhauling the entire Philo-for-Celine\u00a0aesthetic. The latter seasons of Philo\u2019s tenure became\u00a0immediately iconic, and the resale price of Philo\u2019s\u00a0archival pieces soared.<\/p>\n

\"grazia
The Trapeze Bag, CELINE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI started on the runway as an exclusive for Alexander\u00a0Wang [in 2015], and then that season I also walked my\u00a0first Celine<\/a> show in Paris,\u201d says model Charlee Fraser.\u00a0\u201cThere was a backstage photo that they happened to take\u00a0of me that the Celine team really loved, so I booked the\u00a0next two or three Celine campaigns from that photo.\u201d\u00a0Fraser went on to wear some of the most memorable\u00a0looks from the Celine archive, walking in consecutive\u00a0runway shows throughout Philo\u2019s last three years. There\u00a0was Fall\/Winter 2016, look 14 \u2013 the bright orange poncho\u00a0and slouchy trousers. Spring\/Summer 2017, look 10 \u2013 the\u00a0sweeping black chiffon dress and mismatched boots.\u00a0Spring\/Summer 2018, look two \u2013 a swirl of meticulous\u00a0beige layering. \u201cWhen I first started doing international\u00a0shows I was so undereducated about the fashion industry\u00a0that I didn\u2019t know how big [Celine] was. I look back now\u00a0and I think \u2018That\u2019s insane\u2019,\u201d says Fraser. \u201cThere was a\u00a0season, I think it was 2018, where I did this beige look \u2013\u00a0it was a double raincoat situation \u2013 and that specific image\u00a0went viral. It turned out to be one of the most iconic\u00a0Celine collections which obviously, at the time, I didn\u2019t\u00a0know, but looking back at it now it\u2019s like \u2018Wow\u2019. I feel so\u00a0incredibly blessed to have been a part of that era.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a palpable sense of an ending in the months\u00a0and years that followed Philo\u2019s departure. Her influence\u00a0on fashion was seen everywhere \u2013 alongside Lee\u2019s\u00a0obscenely successful tenure at Bottega Veneta was\u00a0the meterotic success of Peter Do and Rokh Hwang,\u00a0also both former designers in Philo\u2019s Celine atelier.\u00a0But Philo\u2019s loyal acolytes had been lying in wait for an\u00a0announcement that would finally come on July 12, 2021:\u00a0\u201cPhoebe Philo Is Launching Her Own Brand, Backed\u00a0By LVMH<\/a>\u201d, read the triumphant Business of Fashion<\/em>\u00a0headline. Cue: a proverbial digital meltdown. \u201cFinally\u00a0the copycats will have some new material to work with,\u201d\u00a0quipped one Twitter user. \u201cI need to get very rich before\u00a0Phoebe Philo launches her brand,\u201d joked another.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve already had people come into the store and\u00a0say \u2018I\u2019m so excited!\u2019\u201d laughs Stuart, who has been\u00a0consistently selling pieces from Philo\u2019s Celine archive\u00a0for the last five years. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a renewed\u00a0interest since the announcement was made, but I don\u2019t\u00a0think people ever stopped loving and buying her\u00a0clothes.\u201d Stuart \u2013 whose fan base includes Kate Moss,\u00a0and whose store is frequented by the world\u2019s most\u00a0esteemed creative directors, with Philo among them \u2013\u00a0says the key to Philo\u2019s appeal lies in its proprioception,\u00a0or, the way you feel as you move about the world\u00a0while you\u2019re wearing her pieces. \u201cThere\u2019s a sense of\u00a0comfort in the clothing and the accessories that has a\u00a0noticeable impact on how you feel and act,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u201cThe pouch bag is technically a clutch, but it has the\u00a0comfort of a hot water bottle. The coats or ponchos\u00a0are beautiful outerwear, but you feel as if you\u2019ve been\u00a0wrapped in a blanket. Very few designers make you\u00a0feel that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philo and her husband, the gallerist Max Wigram,\u00a0will be the sole directors of Phoebe Philo company,\u00a0which will receive financial backing from the luxury\u00a0conglomerate LVMH. \u201cI am very much looking\u00a0forward to being back in touch with my audience and\u00a0people everywhere,\u201d Philo said in a characteristically\u00a0brief statement. \u201cTo be independent, to govern and\u00a0experiment on my own terms is hugely significant\u00a0to me.\u201d The line\u2019s arrival comes at a watershed\u00a0moment for the fashion industry, which has been hit\u00a0particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail\u00a0stalwarts like Neiman Marcus and J Crew filed for\u00a0bankruptcy during the early days of the pandemic,\u00a0while most luxury retailers saw dips in the high\u00a0double-digits in the first quarter of 2020. Now, in\u00a02021, the promise of the \u201chot vax summer\u201d failed to\u00a0eventuate, and with a global recession and precarious\u00a0international travel restrictions, Philo is re-entering\u00a0the industry during one of its most trying periods in\u00a0recent memory. And yet if anyone is up to the task,\u00a0she is. Philo\u2019s runaway success at Celine (estimates\u00a0suggest she increased the brand\u2019s annual revenue from\u00a0\u20ac200 million to \u20ac700 million per year) came on the\u00a0heels of the 2008 recession. It was a challenge that\u00a0ultimately played to her advantage: her pared-back\u00a0designs spoke to a more discrete, muted attitude\u00a0toward displaying one\u2019s wealth. Sadly, we won\u2019t get to\u00a0see how our generation\u2019s defining designer responds\u00a0to this new fashion climate until 2022. Which means\u00a0we have a good few months to agonise over what\u00a0her debut will look like. But if the last four years\u00a0have taught us anything, it\u2019s that Phoebe Philo is\u00a0worth waiting for.<\/p>\n

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