The older I get, the more tired I find myself becoming with fashion. Not with clothes, as a fashion editor I will always love them and how they can make me feel. I mean with all the fluff that goes with them.
Fashion is, ultimately, cyclical so we often feel like we have to dress up in the latest iterations. Case in the point the endless inventions of whatever ‘-core’ (Barbiecore, balletcore), and over-analysing of trends (‘Quiet Luxury’, ‘Coastal Grandma’). Despite working in the industry for over 15 years, I’ve never fully gelled with a number of aspects of it. Like the peacocking of Fashion Week, the hero worship expected towards certain industry, or the trickery some brands use to get us to buy ludicrously expensive things that are, frankly, not worthy of the price tag.
This may explain why I've always been drawn to wearable, practical fashion and the people who design pieces that outlast trend cycles and remain in the wardrobes of their buyers for years. Brands like The Row, Toteme, Max Mara and, most significantly, Phoebe Philo-era Celine, or ‘Old Celine’ as it has become affectionately known. Long before ‘Quiet Luxury’ was a thing, these were the brands making solid, satisfying clothes that whispered as opposed to shouted. Which is why talk of Philo’s debut collection from her hotly-anticipated eponymous brand has become deafening since it launched less than 24 hours ago.
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I’m slightly embarrassed to say that Old Celine wasn’t love at first sight. I was aware of the chatter among colleagues who lauded it as something very, very special, but it took me a few years to understand it. Once I did, I was in, hook, line and sinker. I came to realise that Philo had a unique ability to subvert classic codes of dress just enough to make them feel fresh and a little bit weird, but still completely wearable, and very covetable. Yes, she set trends, but it never felt like that was her intention, as it so often does with big-money fashion houses. Arguably, they were more than just ‘trends’ - so many of them remain in favour to this day (her tenure at Celine spanned 2008-2017).
Over the years I’ve talked to many people, mostly women, about Philo and what she created at Celine (it has become something of a fascination for me) and, ultimately, they all say the same thing: she produced expertly-crafted clothes that were made to be worn by busy women with real lives. Every piece served a purpose. Women felt powerful and beautiful in a unique way - a way that was void of the male gaze, something we had been sorely underserved by the male-dominated luxury fashion industry.
I own two pieces of Old Celine, a Trio bag bought on eBay and a small bamboo-effect initial pendant gifted to me by my mum when I was pregnant with my first child. I treasure them. The clothes have always been beyond my financial grasp (even on resale sites Old Celine fetches lofty sums), but it doesn’t matter. I’ve always felt her work there was about a mood, a feeling, an idea that anyone can recreate within their means, as much as it was actual items.
It was not just her clothes that appealed to me though, it was and is her sensibility also. She once said: 'The chicest thing is when you don’t exist on Google'. She rarely gives interviews and bucked the system when she took a two-year maternity leave prior to commencing her role at Celine. She then specified that the brand’s design HQ be moved from Paris to London to allow her a better work-life balance, and later eschewed a catwalk show for Celine’s AW12 collection when heavily pregnant with her third child. She rightfully made decisions many of us, unfortunately, would not dare to and maintains an air of mystique that is all too scarce these days. Her work says everything she needs to say, and that is a rarity.
Unsurprisingly for Philophiles, yesterday’s launch wasn’t preceded by countless interviews - there were none. Like thousands of other fans around the world, I waited for the email to drop into my inbox telling me the collection had launched. It is everything I'd hoped for - beautiful tailoring, classic knitwear, elegant accessories, a smattering of statement pieces, all spun with Philo’s signature magic. Of course, I want the now sold-out ‘MUM’ necklace to sit beside my initial pendant. Refreshingly, nothing is ground-breaking and her silhouettes remain the same. Simple and powerful. No fluff. Proof that her aesthetic is one that has endured, despite six years of absence and a whole lot of change in the fashion industry, an industry that tries it’s hardest to convince us the change and progress are essential. It’s as if she never left.
And yet, that might also pose a problem. Amid the praise, it would be remiss to ignore the renewed criticism the brand has faced in recent hours, with many questioning the lack of size diversity, both in the marketing and the sizes on offer (the size range ranges from a UK 6 to 14). Others, including The Guardian, have pointed out the ‘astronomical’ prices of the collection amid a Cost of Living Crisis, whether it's the £800 T-shirt or £12,000 shearling coat.
It would also be blindingly ignorant not to acknowledge the stage upon which she has launched her brand though. The horror we are currently witnessing elsewhere in the world, far from the manicured confines of fashion houses, the cosily corporate boardrooms of luxury conglomerates and indeed our own safe homes, puts in stark context the launch of a new label. How unimportant it is in the grand scheme of things. But what we must never forget is the power of fashion to offer us escapism. Whether we choose to board that flight of fancy, even just fleetingly, is up to us. But it’s always there if we need it, and that is a gift we should never take for granted - and something Philo’s work has given me countless times and, I now know, will continue to do so.
