The days of extra-strength box shapes and iron-clad constructions at Céline are officially over. Creative director Phoebe Philo has been working on a more languid, feminine silhouette for the last two seasons now, and this new fluidity crystalised on her Winter runway where she presented one of her most wearable, beautiful collections yet. The shapes first explored last spring - elongated, lean body grazers - were continued this season, but were now looked at through the cosy guise of knitwear. Philo brought knits to almost everything she touched, including the flared, ribbed pants which she showed with matching, extra-long ribbed sweaters. Those twosome pairings, also seen through Philo's signature long skirts and sweaters, looked newly rousing as subtly graphic speckled knitwear. The entire collection pulsed with a speedy sort of energy, as slashed out hems on both tops and bottoms flapped with movement. It also helped that Philo layered all of her looks with the original, decadent extras that have become this brand's calling card: chandelier earrings worn in one ear only, rich mink belts, and shiny sandwich platform sandals are all sure to be next Winter's top sellers. Though Céline's current stores are packed with Spring's zany patterns and art splattered optical prints, Philo seems to be backtracking from that visual stimulation with more of a reliance on basic old black. But here the staple thumped with excitement. Our hearts stirred at her wool coats, newly printed with leopard spots and the final run of black coats, which were pierced with white feathers that looked like porcupine spines - a perfect excuse to go wild.
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
