Phoebe Philo’s grand comeback in September 2023 takes shape

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Arguably the most eagerly awaited return to the fashion and luxury scene of the fall and the year: Phoebe Philo, the papess of understated chic and former artistic director of Maison Céline, launches her eponymous label. The designer hadn’t created a collection since 2017.

New information has been circulating in recent months about this eponymous brand, launched with a minority investment from the LVMH group and scheduled for next September.

 

Philophiles – those unconditional fans of the designer – are in for a treat!

 

While some of them have been able to console themselves with designer brands such as The Row, Lemaire and Jil Sander, who are adept at purity and made-to-measure, many have lamented her absence from the catwalks for the past six years.

 

Launch scheduled for September

 

Announced as early as July 2021 on Instagram, Phoebe Philo’s brand presents itself as a fashion and accessories brand. 150 styles are already planned, and a brand-new website has been created for the occasion.

 

In doing so, the brand is announcing itself as a digital-first experience through phoebephilo.com. Fans were invited to sign up last month to receive the latest notifications. A good way for the designer to qualify her customer databases while controlling her margins and image. By the end of July, 229,000 had already subscribed. As for the instagram account, at the time of writing there are 246,000 followers, compared with 50,000 in the first four hours of the launch.

 

Not very adept at social networking and digital, the designer has nevertheless surrounded herself with a number of experts on the subject, in particular Patrick Silén, a former Asos executive and McKinsey veteran, appointed Managing Director last May.

 

Daria Werbowy and Joan Didion © Celine

 

The 50-year-old British designer is also expected to reunite with Canadian model Daria Werbowy, who appeared in numerous Céline campaigns photographed by Juergen Teller during his tenure at Céline. Werbowy will be the face of Phoebe Philo’s eponymous brand.

 

The launch was made possible by minority financing from her former employer, LVMH.

 

However, the designer retains full control of the brand. On this subject, the group sees it above all as a genuine “entrepreneurial adventure”. As a sign of this creative and managerial independence, the brand is not on the official list of the 75 Maisons owned by the group.

 

A most conspicuous absence

 

Fashion always comes back. However, few personalities are able to make such a lasting impression on the memory, to leave their mark on an era, and to unite a whole cohort of loyal followers, earning the almost unanimous respect of their peers.

 

Among its fanclub – the famous philophiles – is the legendary American writer Joan Didion, who appeared in Autumn-Winter 2015 in what remains to this day one of the couture house’s most emblematic campaigns, under the eye of photographer and eternal accomplice, Juergen Teller and his offbeat vision of the world of luxury.

 

Phoebe Philo is one of the few fashion designers to have launched her eponymous brand after spending nearly twenty years in the luxury industry.

 

Departure announcement of Phoebe Philo from Céline in 2017 © Business of Fashion

 

Before joining the artistic direction of Maison Céline in 2018, where she reigned for ten years, she joined Stella McCartney’s teams at Chloé before holding the position of creative director for five years.

 

It was she who, in spite of herself, launched the fashion for immaculate white sneakers back in 2015, because of the Stan Smiths she never left her runway shows, prefiguring in her own way the sneaker mania in luxury. It was she who launched the biggest it-bags of the decade with the Paddington at Chloe but also the Trapèze and the Nano Luggage bags at Céline.

 

Above all, she was instrumental in the democratization of discreet luxury. She developed a casual, minimalist yet feminine style that inspired brands such as Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton.

 

Her cultural imprint was such that Hedi Slimane, current artistic director of Maison Céline, was forced to change the brand’s name, removing the accent.

 

The arrival of the Saint Laurent designer and his (overly) rock vision in the House that had revitalized Philo led to an unprecedented outcry.

While many journalists and fashion experts lamented the brand’s stylistic turnaround, sharing their favorite creations from the former DA, one Canadian crystallized this movement.

 

© @OldCeline

 

Fearing “the end of an era”, Gabrielle Boucinha launched a landmark Instagram account in the wake of Hedi Slimane’s arrival, launching her career in the press at the same time: @oldceline. A nostalgic space designed as a veritable ode to the Philo genius, which a month after its launch in September 2018, already boasted 55,000 followers!

At Refinery29, this ultra-fan from Toronto was proud to count among them personalities she admired – designers and influencers – such as “Virgil Abloh, Tommy Ton, Julie Pelipas, Camille Charrière, Pernille Teisbaek, Ezra Petronio and Leandra Medine.”

 

A successful vision of fashion

 

This extraordinary desirability has become almost a “religion”, and has been transformed into an economic success story. According to Business of Fashion, under her tenure as artistic director, Céline saw sales rise from 200 million euros in 2008 to over 700 million euros in 2017.

 

On the second-hand market, Philo’s creations continue to arouse desire, as evidenced by his camel cashmere coat, which is still highly sought-after on platforms such as Vestiaire Collective and The Real Real.

 

Céline Nano Luggage bag © Press

 

For fashion critic Tang Shuang on Chinese platform LadyMax “No designer has been able to address the needs of modern middle-class women as precisely as Philo”.

 

He adds, “The image she represents is what these women aspire to be: an embodiment of non-objectification, non-vanity, confidence and attractiveness.

 

The creator of the instagram account @oldceline agrees: “Phoebe’s Céline was all about self-confidence, strength, pride and power. You can apply this philosophy to all aspects of life, and I think Phoebe’s Céline was based on this culture of empowerment.” For her, this female empowerment mirrors the cultural and social imprint left by none other than… Gabrielle Chanel.

 

Since her departure from the fashion scene, many brands have invoked the memory of the designer, whether by recruiting her former disciples, such as Daniel Lee at Bottega Veneta and then Burberry, or, more recently, an ailing Gucci, which called on her star model – Daria Werbowski – to feature in the brand’s communication campaign.

 

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Arguably the most eagerly awaited return to the fashion and luxury scene of the fall and the year: Phoebe Philo, the papess of understated chic and former artistic director of Maison Céline, launches her eponymous label. The designer hadn’t created a collection since 2017.

New information has been circulating in recent months about this eponymous brand, launched with a minority investment from the LVMH group and scheduled for next September.

 

Philophiles – those unconditional fans of the designer – are in for a treat!

 

While some of them have been able to console themselves with designer brands such as The Row, Lemaire and Jil Sander, who are adept at purity and made-to-measure, many have lamented her absence from the catwalks for the past six years.

 

Launch scheduled for September

 

Announced as early as July 2021 on Instagram, Phoebe Philo’s brand presents itself as a fashion and accessories brand. 150 styles are already planned, and a brand-new website has been created for the occasion.

 

In doing so, the brand is announcing itself as a digital-first experience through phoebephilo.com. Fans were invited to sign up last month to receive the latest notifications. A good way for the designer to qualify her customer databases while controlling her margins and image. By the end of July, 229,000 had already subscribed. As for the instagram account, at the time of writing there are 246,000 followers, compared with 50,000 in the first four hours of the launch.

 

Not very adept at social networking and digital, the designer has nevertheless surrounded herself with a number of experts on the subject, in particular Patrick Silén, a former Asos executive and McKinsey veteran, appointed Managing Director last May.

 

Daria Werbowy and Joan Didion © Celine

 

The 50-year-old British designer is also expected to reunite with Canadian model Daria Werbowy, who appeared in numerous Céline campaigns photographed by Juergen Teller during his tenure at Céline. Werbowy will be the face of Phoebe Philo’s eponymous brand.

 

The launch was made possible by minority financing from her former employer, LVMH.

 

However, the designer retains full control of the brand. On this subject, the group sees it above all as a genuine “entrepreneurial adventure”. As a sign of this creative and managerial independence, the brand is not on the official list of the 75 Maisons owned by the group.

 

A most conspicuous absence

 

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Arguably the most eagerly awaited return to the fashion and luxury scene of the fall and the year: Phoebe Philo, the papess of understated chic and former artistic director of Maison Céline, launches her eponymous label. The designer hadn’t created a collection since 2017.

New information has been circulating in recent months about this eponymous brand, launched with a minority investment from the LVMH group and scheduled for next September.

 

Philophiles – those unconditional fans of the designer – are in for a treat!

 

While some of them have been able to console themselves with designer brands such as The Row, Lemaire and Jil Sander, who are adept at purity and made-to-measure, many have lamented her absence from the catwalks for the past six years.

 

Launch scheduled for September

 

Announced as early as July 2021 on Instagram, Phoebe Philo’s brand presents itself as a fashion and accessories brand. 150 styles are already planned, and a brand-new website has been created for the occasion.

 

In doing so, the brand is announcing itself as a digital-first experience through phoebephilo.com. Fans were invited to sign up last month to receive the latest notifications. A good way for the designer to qualify her customer databases while controlling her margins and image. By the end of July, 229,000 had already subscribed. As for the instagram account, at the time of writing there are 246,000 followers, compared with 50,000 in the first four hours of the launch.

 

Not very adept at social networking and digital, the designer has nevertheless surrounded herself with a number of experts on the subject, in particular Patrick Silén, a former Asos executive and McKinsey veteran, appointed Managing Director last May.

 

Daria Werbowy and Joan Didion © Celine

 

The 50-year-old British designer is also expected to reunite with Canadian model Daria Werbowy, who appeared in numerous Céline campaigns photographed by Juergen Teller during his tenure at Céline. Werbowy will be the face of Phoebe Philo’s eponymous brand.

 

The launch was made possible by minority financing from her former employer, LVMH.

 

However, the designer retains full control of the brand. On this subject, the group sees it above all as a genuine “entrepreneurial adventure”. As a sign of this creative and managerial independence, the brand is not on the official list of the 75 Maisons owned by the group.

 

A most conspicuous absence

 

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Picture of Victor Gosselin
Victor Gosselin
Victor Gosselin is a journalist specializing in luxury, HR, tech, retail, and editorial consulting. A graduate of EIML Paris, he has been working in the luxury industry for 9 years. Fond of fashion, Asia, history, and long format, this ex-Welcome To The Jungle and Time To Disrupt likes to analyze the news from a sociological and cultural angle.

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