Even by the fashion house's high standards, this softer and more approachable collection has the makings of an instant success
Backstage after a hit Paris fashion week catwalk show Phoebe Philo, the British designer of Céline, was asked how she felt about her designs being the most copied in the fashion industry, echoed everywhere from lesser catwalks in New York and Milan to the market stalls of London and Shanghai.
She smiled, shrugged, and pronounced it "flattering. I do notice, of course I do; I see it in the street." Is she ever tempted to buy the endless high street versions of her signature minimal chic? "I don't have time to go shopping, otherwise I totally would," she said.
It was the perfect Céline answer. Cool and laid-back where others would be shrill and overblown; classy without being snobbish; quietly resonant of the fundamental issues of modern life (time, the lack of); reinforcing an image of a woman who loves clothes but maintains a sense of proportion. These, even more than the round-shouldered coats and the funnel-neck sweaters, are the codes Philo has written for Céline during her six years in charge.
After taking an obtuse turn with her collection last season, which included flat walking sandals lined with brightly coloured teddy bear fur – soon to go on sale for £840 a pair – this collection had the makings of an instant hit. The mood as the show ended was a feeling that even by Céline standards, this was particularly strong.
"Intimacy, softness, instinct and desire" were Philo's words. The shape and colours were feminine, with skirts in nubbly cream or peach wool cut in a close curve over the hips before fluting to below the knee. The Céline woman can at times seem cool to the point of guardedness, but she seemed softer, more approachable this season. Handbags were made from the same fabrics as the clothes, and hugged the body, so although styled for the outdoors the models looked cosy rather than armoured.
Oblique references and unnerving touches are part of any Céline show. On each seat was a scrapbook of visual references, including a detail from Van Eyck's 1434 painting, the Arnolfini Marriage; photographs of cloud formations; and an image of NUD 3, Sarah Lucas's abstract nude sculpture made from breezeblock and tights. On the catwalk were nuggets, curveballs and in-jokes. The idea of softness was elaborated into fur dresses, and coats which featured trompe l'oeil sleeves tied around the shoulder; there was a wink to fashion's vogue for checks with clothes in the checked weave of plasticised laundry holdalls.
It may be significant in terms of where the winds of fashion blow next that there was some synergy between this show and that of Miuccia Prada, who like Philo is a designer who goes her own way on what seems like an emotional hunch. (If there is a more strategic plan behind their fads and foibles, neither are telling.) Elements in this Céline collection – the naive cut of the coat collars, the just-below-the-knee-length skirts, the soft shell pinks – chimed with Prada, in a way that may indicate romance, intimacy and femininity, and may come to be repeated around the echo chambers of fashion.
Like Philo, Clare Waight Keller of Chloé is a Briton at the helm of a French label. Chloé is so fundamentally Parisienne that it is tricky territory for a British designer to inhabit while maintaining her identity, but Waight Keller is managing the balancing act. Her fourth collection blended Parisian polish (plenty of navy, touches of flirty sheer net) with London punch: the pinafore shapes and high-heeled loafers were an Alexa Chung-ish touch, while the designer credited "night buses, bike sheds, bare legs and cold nights" among her inspirations for the season.