Céline F/W 12.13 Paris

[Hebden]

Pics: www.purple.fr

 

[Marc10]

Céline: Dressing for a Balanced Life
By SUZY MENKES

PARIS — It is a woman’s moment again in fashion. After a decade-long run of girlie looks, the winter 2012 Paris collections are all about dividing the women from the girls — and the boys.

Three exceptional designers took masculine tailoring as a base for a new female elegance that owes nothing to frills and furbelows.

On Sunday, as Phoebe Philo stood, heavily pregnant, to greet a hand-picked audience for what was not more than a Céline showroom collection put on models, it was hard not to think of her as the leading protagonist for this new woman.

There has been much discussion this season about Jil Sander, the minimalism she brought to fashion — and her return to the house that bears her name after more than seven years.

In her absence, Ms. Philo filled that void and took feminist fashion a step forward, making clothes for 21st-century women that allow them to develop, as she has, from young woman through motherhood and the work/life balance that entails.

The designer did not make her clothes strict and masculine. That smash-the-glass-ceiling, dress-like-the-men era is so definitely over.

Looking at the brochure handed out at the show, which included bare melon-size breasts and the Brutalist art that the designer said that she loves, it was intriguing to understand how deep are the inspirations that come out as streamlined clothes.

Tough and tender was expressed as leather scarves in blue, edged in black and white, and jauntily tied in a V at the neck.

Coats were big and solid, but, like many of the tailored clothes, had a surprise element, especially at the back: a double half-belt on a white leather jacket — or zippers in various places, from thighs to diagonally at the neck.

Then there were the color blocks, as a cobalt blue coat swung around to show squares of scarlet, camel or bubble-gum pink. Even fur was given the pink color treatment.

The effect was of a purposeful woman, wearing useful, easy-to-move-in clothes, but nothing that announced her as a female of the species.

As Ms. Philo put it so succinctly: “It’s all about feelings.”

nytimes

 

[thejarc]

Well,I like most of this (awesomely cut coats) but I'll never understand her fondness of patchwork.

 

[Castafura]

Great looking collection so far, totally agree, I'm in love with the oversized tailored coats

 

[Crying Diamonds]

I thought Philo was progressing somewhere with the volume in her spring collection (though I did not like it) but now she's just gone back to last winter, and last pre-fall?
That magenta fur is just the worst thing.

 

[KKnardi]

honestly I like this! I find many of the outfits very appealing for an upper-end customer, she's travelling and she has money. totally seeing this on women in power, and yeah... anna.

 

[Spike413]

Such a refreshing collection from her. The color is incredibly fun and the clothes have a simplicity to them in terms of concept. There's not much here that's odd or off or overly-challenging, thankfully.

 

[Fashion_Girl22]

Press Images






stylebistro

 

[Fashion_Girl22]

stylebistro

 

[KaraDanielle11]

I think it's interesting that even though they asked guests not to share pictures on social media and to only use the official press photos- the request was mostly ignored.

On another note, I'm obsessed with that blue coat.

 

[Pradable]

There's a missed look...


style.com

 

[lepetitcouturier]

This is so chic! I love it!!

 

[purplethistle]

I find this quite disappointing, the shapes are simply not very flattering to look at.

 

[bluevelvetblog]

This is so good it hurts. I love how she just focuses on a handful of looks and there aren't a million different ones. I know she probably did this because she was pregnant and couldn't handle designing a bigger collection, but for me, that turned out to be the best part.

 

[liberty33r1b]

WWD review

Phoebe Philo isn’t only minimalist in her fashion aesthetic. Very pregnant with her third child, Philo eschewed the typical large-scale runway show in favor of a tight lineup presented in two small showroom shows. She came out briefly prior to the start of the second, acknowledged a few guests and left before well-wishers could find her backstage.

In a season fairly obsessed with volume, Philo amped up the silhouette of her famous sporty luxe, her approach on a vague wavelength with Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière but without the overt experimentation. Rather, Philo grounded her proposals in complete reality — tony clothes for everyday life. This meant sloped-shouldered coats with wide leather half-belts in back; trousers, some with electric tuxedo stripes, others with vertical knee zippers and, one of her sleekest looks, a leather shell over lean white pants.

The best of it bore the chic simplicity befitting fashion’s current minimalist queen with a rabid fan base among editors and consumers, though even some card-carrying members may steer clear of the roomier looks. It’s hard to imagine whom Philo had in mind with her colorblocks, a coat in big chunks of purple, orange, blue, white, pink and black, and a pair of blouson tops that looked like jockey silks done over in leather and fur. Most likely, they were a one-season snafu. But it could indicate that Philo is finding essential diversification of her minimalist message rough sledding.

 

[mackos]

Amazing, amazing collection. It keeps the perfect balance in mixing the sober minimalism, intriguing volumes, graphic accents and the touch of quirk.

And don't judge me, but I'm strangely attracted to the magenta fur coat

 

[Deleted member 1957]

love the colours

 

[KKnardi]

love the detail shots, the colors are beautiful!

 

[Creative]

This is the best collection of the season... Phoebe is really talented. I can't get enough of her and her vision. Since she started at Céline, she has been the best and most influential fashion designer without any doubt.

 

[Chanelcouture09]