Maverick Fashion Designer Phoebe Philo Making A Comeback With Her Own Fashion Brand

After taking three years of breathing space, maverick luxury designer Phoebe Philo has returned with a comeback to launching her very own label of clothing and accessories, set to launch the next year of 2022 and with LVMH as an investor. Philo was known as the creative director of the renowned luxury French house of Celine. She dedicated her creative talents by revamping the Celine brand for LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) as they major in luxury goods. Philo was a part of the company for the past ten years leading up to her exit in 2017/2018.

Amongst the industry, a few whispers and speculation has been circling about Philo gaining a creative director title under Chanel or Alaia, however, in the last three years, Philo has maintained to keep things low key. She solely focused her attention on constructing her London based studio ready for her comeback spotlight launch. At present and to set things in motion, Philo and husband Max Wigram have been entitled as the sole directors of the Phoebe Philo business.

In a statement, Philo explains, “I am very much looking forward to being back in touch with my audience and people everywhere. To be independent, to govern and experiment on my terms is hugely significant to me.”

To share a little background knowledge, the Celine brand has been recognised since 1945 by the renowned Celine Vipiana. From humble beginnings, the business started as a made-to-measure shoe brand for children. Under the directorship of Philo, she made it her mission to regenerate the brand legacy in the year 2008 under her direct leadership. She revived the brand and brought it back to live amongst the adversity of the great recession of 2008. From that moment, the French house of Celine had evolved into one of the most prominent luxury labels of the Fashion Industry.

During her tenure at Celine, she created engaging unique bags and luggage classics to entice her audience. The classics were something to admire and buy. Her mainline collections were a mega-hit with fashion editors/enthusiasts who wore Celine and felt proud sporting what they got.

With that in mind, fashion editors and celebrities like Kanye West and Lady Gaga were in awe of the Celine brand. Bringing Philo’s talents to the Celine brand was appealing sultry silhouettes which expressed a sense of striking women empowerment status, high standard quality and design.

In 2018, a new leader was in the driver's seat for the Celine brand and under the influence of creative and image director Hedi Slimane under the LVMH label. With his design influence and the redesigning of the Celine brand, Slimane design aesthetics was widely recognised and with a new vision for the French fashion house of Celine. At the same time, he gained successful awareness with celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon and many more.

Now that Philo's work will be under her eponymous name, we are all looking forward to seeing what creative ideas she has installed up her sleeve. Furthermore, the exciting news of Philo's return to the LVMH company and being a part of the team close by a friend and renowned designer Stella McCartney.

Phoebe Philo has embraced her creative ability throughout her buzzing career as a designer. With the current pandemic crisis creating a gloomy cloud over our heads, it would be interesting to see her new interpretation of luxury fashion since her exit from Celine. The luxury fashion sector has changed drastically and developed more digitally as customer's expectations are soaring as the years go on.

The fashion industry needs someone with a wealth of signature experience and integrity, a designer like Phoebe Philo, willing to get in touch with her audience again and introduce a new wow factor to her clothes.

Words by Charlene Foreman