Philo's the Word

“I don’t like to see women dressing for other people and dis-empowering themselves.” Phoebe Philo spoke, and women, (and men yearning for Philo-ified Céline menswear) in the audience at Vogue Festival in London, which took place last weekend, collectively swooned. Her words were measured, consciously thought-out and exacting – much like her creative output at Céline. They all made deep and solid sense. I couldn’t really tweet fast enough to keep up with the salient soundbites that she was coming out with. She spoke of clothing as empowerment, without the need to be sexualised. She spoke of doing everything without compromise. She spoke about finding the idea of mediocrity difficult.

I couldn’t relate to the lofty ideals but I could agree and nod. It was a talk where a mini epiphany came to me. Philo might doth protest about fame and the idea of putting herself out there, but by doing so at Vogue Festival, it gave me a sense of tangibility to her work at Céline. That’s how I ended up with the SS14 slip-on Love Life shoes on my feet above. Truth be told, in the very beginning of her tenure at Céline, I was a little suspicious of the mass wave of collective love. Nothing against the clothes of course – they were magnificent, if far removed from me personally in spirit (and in price). But it was the brute force declaration of minimalism by the fashion press and the way women would buy up total looks as an subscribed formula to chic, that made me a little uneasy. Perhaps I’m the sort of riff raff that Philo might hate wearing Céline. And so I’ve never bought the clothes, save for a few pieces heavily discounted on Yoox. There was a standoffish distance between my mentality and Céline, with Philo at the centre of it all, deliberately shielding herself to put that distance to a test. Call it the age where cult of personality matters, but hearing her speak in the flesh instantly made that distance dissipate. Those clothes suddenly felt warmer. There was a life in them that wasn’t just about the in-crowd of editors and rich girls declaring them to be chic. In a piece for Pop magazine, I wrote about the slubby softness of her SS13 collection which suggested that beneath that Céline polish, there was an endearing sloth of a woman. That sloth was then rejuvenated with exuberant vitality in SS14, which I deeply love, for reasons that are obvious to most. Minimalism was put aside momentarily as bold Matisse-esque brush strokes and primary colours took over.

I got to experience this firsthand in Paris thanks to a magazine in China that deemed me worthy to style up key pieces from the SS 14 collection and am now positively haunted by that utterly perfect brushstroke knit jacquard.

Photograph by Phil Oh for Vogue.com – wearing Céline coat, Junya Watanabe jumper, J Brand jeans, Tabitha Simmons shoes, Fendi sunglasses and Céline bag

And so it is that I went forth into the new Céline store on Mount Street, buoyed by hearing Philo speak and also to physically coo at what has been my favourite Céline/Philo collection thus far. She spoke about her innate fear of fame at the talk and therefore it’s no coincidence that her rare appearance at the festival coincided with the opening of the long awaited London flagship. Not that it’s a store that needs publicity or promotion. From the outside, you wouldn’t even immediately detect it sells clothes as the entire window is obscured by a wall of dried reeds framed by dark iron wood. But the discreet logo at the door and the hustle and bustle of people walking in and out past the luminous pink resin screen with shopping bags gives the game away.

You’ve probably heard people commenting about how floored they were by the flooring. It is utterly mesmerising. Parquet marble, inlaid with semi-precious stones made up of about 6,000 individual tiles that draw you in immediately and make you want to do a full circuit around the store. Somehow the store divides clad in grey marmorino plaster look warm and inviting because of the specially commissioned pieces such as the cast iron door handles, the chandelier and a day bed. In a space that is 600 square metres, only half of it is devoted to selling. It’s a store that can breathe and isn’t choked with product. I beelined for the one and only item I’ve singularly wanted since the SS14 shows – that being the Love Life shoes. I was told they were coming in the following week and after a helpful email convo about sizing and delivery time, I popped in again on Monday to pick them up. The shoes happen to be my first item bought full price in a Céline store. You could say I’m now a convert to the Philo-sophy.

Worn with Loewe sunglasses, COS jumper, Meadham Kirchhoff slipdress, Comme des Garcons skirt, Kitty Joseph socks