{"id":32511,"date":"2023-02-10T09:22:39","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T22:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=204003"},"modified":"2024-07-01T13:48:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T09:48:52","slug":"phoebe-philo-returns","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/phoebe-philo-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gospel According To Phoebe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Phoebe
Phoebe Philo. Credit: Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

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

\"Phoebe
Left to right from back: Spring 2002, Spring 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2005, Fall 2005, Chlo\u00e9. 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

But of course it was at Celine, where she took over in 2008, that Philo solidified her status as a fashion god. At Chlo\u00e9 Philo crafted the wardrobe of the mid-Noughties It-girl. At Celine, then a languishing French heritage brand, she wanted to create the uniform of the sophisticated working woman. Philo, then 38 and the mother of two young children, quickly established an aesthetic MO for the new Celine woman: tasteful tailoring, unexpected splashes of colour, exaggerated silhouettes, and unfussy, sometimes clunky accessories \u2013 simple gold earrings, puffy oversized clutches, \u2018ugly\u2019 shoes. The look, defined by Philo as \u201ccontemporary minimalism\u201d backstage at her debut show, went on to define the look of mid 2010s, inspiring the likes of the Olsen twins\u2019 The Row, Elin Kling\u2019s Tot\u00eame, and Catherine Holstein\u2019s Khaite. It felt like a visual palette cleanser from the gauce-chic velour tracksuits and Ugg boots that defined Y2K dressing, and it struck a deep chord with a generation of working women who didn\u2019t necessarily find empowerment or sex appeal in bodycon dresses and six-inch heels.<\/p>\n

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

When, in 2018, Philo announced she was leaving Celine after a decade at the helm, fashion types went into a protracted state of mourning. In Paris, a clique of well-heeled front row regulars including Yasmin Sewell, Gaia Repossi, and Giorgia Tordini, gathered at the Place Dauphine, dressed in their finest Philo threads, to mourn the end of an era. Speculation about where Philo might go next was rampant \u2013 some suggested Chanel, others Ala\u00efa or Bottega Veneta (the latter was a position her director of ready-to-wear, Daniel Lee, would go on to fill with aplomb).<\/p>\n

\"Phoebe
The Trapeze Bag, Celine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But, in keeping with the woman who once declared that \u201cthe chicest thing is not to show up on Google\u201d, Philo simply disappeared. Her successor, Hedi Slimane, soon arrived, not only scything the brand\u2019s famous l\u2019accent aigu<\/em>, but overhauling the entire Philo-for-Celine aesthetic. The latter seasons of Philo\u2019s tenure became immediately iconic, and the resale price of Philo\u2019s archival pieces soared.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

Philo and her husband, the gallerist Max Wigram, will be the sole directors of Phoebe Philo company, which will receive financial backing from the luxury conglomerate LVMH. \u201cI am very much looking forward to being back in touch with my audience and people everywhere,\u201d Philo said in a characteristically brief statement. \u201cTo be independent, to govern and experiment on my own terms is hugely significant to me.\u201d The line\u2019s arrival comes at a watershed moment for the fashion industry, which has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail stalwarts like Neiman Marcus and J Crew filed for bankruptcy during the early days of the pandemic, while most luxury retailers saw dips in the high double-digits in the first quarter of 2020. Now, in 2021, the promise of the \u201chot vax summer\u201d failed to eventuate, and with a global recession and precarious international travel restrictions, Philo is re-entering the industry during one of its most trying periods in recent memory. And yet if anyone is up to the task, she is. Philo\u2019s runaway success at Celine (estimates suggest she increased the brand\u2019s annual revenue from \u20ac200 million to \u20ac700 million per year) came on the heels of the 2008 recession. It was a challenge that ultimately played to her advantage: her pared-back designs spoke to a more discrete, muted attitude toward displaying one\u2019s wealth.<\/p>\n

Sadly, we won\u2019t get to see how our generation\u2019s defining designer responds to this new fashion climate until 2022. Which means we have a good few months to agonise over what her debut will look like. But if the last four years have taught us anything, it\u2019s that Phoebe Philo is worth waiting for.<\/p>\n

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