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“We study different shapes and forms every season. The whole collection was about life and love and beauty and every single piece weaves in and out of that idea”, Phoebe Philo told i-D backstage. The Céline Revolution has captured the heart of fashion over the last few years. It was the word on every pair of lips in Paris today. At lunchtime an American editor was saying how her Céline bag (present and counted for) was the most well made, finely crafted bag she owned, and she owns a lot. Another editor said Céline was the only brand she really understood in fashion today. That “life and love and beauty” inspiration sounds vague but really it’s just relevant. It’s not inspired by some far away idiosyncrasy that only one woman who’s been there can understand; Céline speaks a common language, with a perfect accent. In line with the brand’s clean, no fuss aesthetic, a slim cut, masculine sounding navy suit opened the show, worn with brilliant Birkenstock/ fluffy slipper hybrid shoes. Said slippers, coupled a few frayed hems and gathered fabric at the backs of dresses and coats, gave the collection a slightly more undone, lived in feel than previous seasons. There was a fascination with wrapping around too, making the silhouette less strict again, as fabrics crossed over and tied around each other. Tuxedo waistcoats morphed into dress shapes falling below the knee, moving from the very masculine to the slightly feminine. Two jackets with multiple lapels looked inspired by the kind of long, loose, beige trench coats career women wore in the 70s. But these were buttonless, and made of silk, again adding just that touch of femininity to a staple masculine look. Flowing dresses with straight, sharp V’s reaching down to the naval were more overtly feminine, but never fussy. And it’s exactly that feminine touch on a masculine cut that makes Céline the brand every woman who works hard wants to wear, daily. It’s just such powerful formula. Céline is the look of the decade.
Text: Sarah Raphael
Photography: Mitchell Sams
See all of our SS13 womenswear coverage here.
