Yesterday, Phoebe Philo showed reporters and retailers a selection of clothes and accessories that will begin arriving in Celine stores in late November. It was the first glimpse here of Ms. Philo’s designs for the Paris-based company since she was hired last year. The low-key presentation was similar to one in Paris: a long rail of clothes in a Chelsea loft, with informal modeling, and Ms. Philo, dressed in olive fatigues, a black leather jacket and a putty silk blouse, chatting with small groups of guests. It was a smart way to introduce the collection—the isolated debut rather than the big Paris blowout. She’ll have a runway show in the fall.
In the years since Ms. Philo resigned from Chloé, to focus on her family in London, she’s had time to consider what’s relevant. “I’m also older,” she said yesterday. So are we. The central thing to know about her Celine clothes, which are terrific for a number of reasons, is that they reflect an every-day style. By that I mean they are clothes you want to wear every day, whether you work in an office or a gallery, part-time or at home. They answer the questions many women have about wanting to look good at work—appropriate—while still looking relaxed and casual. I’m not sure what Celine really means to American women, and I don’t really care, but I thought it interesting that Ms. Philo focused on sportswear—not dresses, not ball gowns, not girlish, what-do-I-do-with-this-now separates. She makes one of the strongest sportswear statements we’ve seen in some time.
Yesterday on the blog I mentioned the post Helmut Lang generation. I’m not entirely sure what I mean by that term. Good tailoring, to be sure. A sense of function and purpose. Haven’t these elements been missing in fashion? Well, I think Ms. Philo has come pretty close to providing a solution. I loved the versatility of her blouses, based on the square cut of a T-shirt—in compacted tweed, in silk crepe, in soft leather. I liked the classic boy cut of her trousers; they looked easy to wear and not ageist. A tuxedo jacket with navy lapels shown over a draped tie cream blouse and slim black trousers would look smashing on someone at the CFDA party on Monday night. (At least that was my thought.) It looked right for now, a reprieve from the Balmainia of ultra minidresses and chunky little boots. And I loved her version of the olive-denim slim skirt with zips and an army-inspired jacket—smart and tough and desirable. The clothes will be expensive: about $700 for trousers and silk T-shirts, with jackets in the $1,500 to $2,500 range. But if the production pieces are as well made as the samples—with that quality of stitching, proportion and details—then the clothes are worth the expense. Their value is to a large and almost novel degree in their practicality. If there was a fault in the selection presented it was in the thickness of some of the tweeds. But let’s see how things look at the end of the year, when Celine revamps its 100 or so stores. We’ll see a new advertising campaign next spring.
