[ad_1]
Listen? Do you hear that? It’s the inspiration after thousands of women’s fashion prayers were finally answered. Phoebe Philo, the patron saint of clothing for the feminine gaze, the designer whose work convinced Joan Didion to pose for an advertisement and turned her clients into groupies, is back to business. On its own terms.
Three and a half years after leaving her last job as Celine’s artistic director, Ms. Philo, 48, finally puts her name where her aesthetic is, and presents (yes) Phoebe Philo, an independent line of clothing and accessories. Although partially backed by LVMH, Ms. Philo’s former employer, the luxury giant will only have a minority stake, allowing Ms. Philo to retain control and “rule and experiment” as she does. intends, according to the statement.
“Being in my studio and creating again has been both exciting and incredibly rewarding,” Ms. Philo said in the announcement. “I can’t wait to reconnect with my audience and people around the world.” She said a little more.
The reluctance is not surprising on the part of the designer, who often appeared at the end of her show with her head half hidden in a polo collar. She has rarely given interviews and, since leaving, has become something of the industry’s Greta Garbo, eschewing social media and paparazzi-attracting photo ops.
More information on what exactly will be Phoebe Philo-the-Mark is promised in January. (Will it be women’s clothing only? Women’s clothing and men’s clothing? Unisex?) In the meantime, however, a few clues have been buried in the ad.
For example, the range will be of “exceptional quality” which is generally fashionable for the high end luxury of the price spectrum and materials. It will likely be based in London, Ms Philo’s home and where her Celine studio was located, although the brand’s headquarters will be in Paris.
And it’s not a big leap to guess that it can be created on the creator’s own timeline, given the emphasis on self-determination and given Ms. Philo’s story against the demands of the system of fashion during her 10 years at Céline and her five-year stint at Chloé, where she became the first designer of a major fashion brand to take maternity leave.
Maybe she’ll get around the seasonal show wheel entirely for a new take on slow fashion, a completely more enduring version. Maybe she will be the creator who will truly be able to take a stand against the mainstream throwaway culture and the ravenous mouth of the content monster created by TikTok and Instagram.
In the announcement, Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, called the new line an “entrepreneurial adventure”. (Despite the fact that Phoebe Philo-la-marque is not officially part of the luxury group, for LVMH to be linked again to Ms. Philo, given her most wanted status, is a coup for the conglomerate.)
It would certainly be a mistake to assume that Ms. Philo’s return to fashion will resemble her past.
After all, her Chloe, who was synonymous with a certain cool girl attitude, sending out a generation of young women in baby doll dresses and clodhopper wood wedges, looked nothing like her Celine, whom she imbued with a sort of radical maturity, elevating the nude leotard and oversized navy cashmere sweater to desirability and setting the trend for luxury Birkenstocks. Separately, Daniel Lee, who worked closely with Ms. Philo as director of ready-to-wear at Celine, is currently making a similar but different version of this brand in his role as Creative Director of Bottega Veneta.
If Mme Philo is back, it’s probably because she has something entirely new to say, for a new world. Which means the only thing for sure is that the rumor mill, which has put Phoebe Philo’s name in the running for just about every creative director position since early 2018, including Burberry, Chanel, Ferragamo and Loro Piana, will finally be silenced. And that not only the fashion world, but also those who yearn for an image of themselves that they cannot yet define, will look.
[ad_2]
Source link