It was only in September of last year, in and amongst the hassle of the traffic in Paris, that I turned to my friend and mused, “What ever happened to Phoebe Philo? When is she coming back?” It was Fashion Week in the city and while the Paris-born, London-based designer—best known for her tenures at the French heritage Maisons Celine and Chloé where she created clothes that reduced otherwise sensible women to histrionics—was not only sorely missed on the schedule, but there was a helluva lot of whispers bubbling about the Great Creative Director Movement of 2022.
Five years ago, Philo left the scene to start her eponymous label with backing from LVMH. In June 2021, she announced her brand would launch in January 2022 but that date came and went. So much time had passed, in fact, that rumours began to swirl around arguably the most deified figure in fashion; could she leading Burberry? Is she designing for Loro Piana?
But Philophiles, rejoice. Overnight the designer announced on her Instagram that her much-awaited “inaugural collection will be revealed and available on our website, phoebephilo.com, in September 2023.”
“We’ll be opening for registration in July 2023 and look forward to being back in touch then,” the statement continued.
While this is all we have to work off at the moment, the timing of the reveal would imply Philo might be on the fashion calendar this September. However, the wording suggests she may be presenting a see-now-buy-now collection whereby we can shop direct from her new website.
Responsible for a 60 percent rise in global sales at Chloe, and for redefining Celine’s MO (read: tasteful tailoring and oversized accessories), the New York Times called Philo “the Chanel of her generation”. The Guardian called her ‘Female Gaze’ aesthetic the most influential sartorial movement since Dior’s ‘New Look’ in the 1960s.
Come September when we’re no doubt still sitting in Fashion Week traffic, whatever the configuration of Philo’s grand reveal, we’ll take it.
This article originally appeared on Grazia Australia.