It has been said that Phoebe Philo is the closest thing our generation has to Coco Chanel. In terms of a designer who has such a tangible, clear influence on our wardrobes, history will look to Philo and her trend-making ability, both at Chloe and at Celine. She's got the midas touch - and her revamp at Celine is bringing in bucketloads of gold. I know I'm guilty of wanting something - anything - of that Phoebe Philo magic. It's the aspirational quality of her design. You want to be the Celine girl in all her manifestations - tailored pants and crisp shirt for work, sleeveless coat and bare legs for evening - and you want to be her not in cheap, high street imitations but in the real deal, beautifully crafted pieces that are sculpted to the body in the way that real clothes ought to be. The designer's struggle against the high street to maintain desire in their - often overpriced - clothes is one of the biggest issues in fashion today. Phoebe Philo, despite the very large price tags at Celine, has managed to sidestep this issue completely by staying so far ahead of the high street they don't know when to copy or keep up.
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Her Fall 2011 collection is sure to keep those heads turning. Philo moved both backwards and forwards from her last Spring collection, with echoes of that silhouette fused with the cut of her first fall collection and then informed by a whole new set of inspirations and ideas. The defining shape of her last collection - low-riding pants with a tucked in tunic top - was here in all its glory in Fall, but this time updated to sleek, clinging turtle kneck body suits with racing stripes or contrast sleeves. The change to turtle kneck reflected Philo's great muse this season; the woman behind the wheel. She said to Hilary Alexander backstage at the Paris Tennis Club that women drivers were so 'seductive' and inspiring. She wanted to create a collection that celebrated the power of the woman behind the wheel. And there were plenty of references to cars, with sleek, soft leather finishes, the wood-grain pattern print of drop waist dresses that echoed a dashboard, and the shape of those billowing coats, all strength and control.
This collection really brought back her first fall outing. That was premised on coats too, navy blue toppers with high collars and long sleeves and a bit of a swagger in their swing. The coats that defined this collection - from murky khaki to sharp, encompassing black - had that same little skip in their step. These were not fall afterthoughts, these were coats that were worked seamlessly into the collection, and the best thing? they looked warm too. There was a coat for every occasion. Casual brown boxy numbers for pairing with perfect pants and pulled back hair, a black tuxedo jacket morphed at the back with those extra long, thrilling tails, and even a bright orange number to break up all the neutrals. The palette was, once again, inspired. This fall there is no doubt that the trend reports will be hailing the return of brown, the beauty of burgundy, and the hit of colour - either in the one pastel pink that Philo showed, or the shots of red and orange that filtered through the collection. When you have a background of mossy greens, calicos and blacks and navy blues, one colour really stands out, especially if that colour is on the lining of a coat, just peeking out at the end of a sleeve, or in a shot of luxurious leather panelling on a pair of beige pants.
The power of Celine lies in Philo's ability to translate a mood that is genuine and exciting into designs that resonate with woman immediately. From the moment they are on the runway they are desirable - you don't have to wait to see them in person, or the ad campaign, or the lookbook - you want them now. She is probably the most commercial designer in that respect, meaning that she completely understands women and what they want. Those beautifully cut coats, the tailored pants, the crisp shirts, the jumpers, that quirky print - it was all wonderfully minimalist without skimping on the luxury, which is what makes minimalism so appealing. If we have to run around in plain beige pants and a black top, we want to do it in style.
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