Even after a fashion month rich in terrific leather jackets and luscious shearlings, Phoebe Philo’s still impress.
The British designer went to town with shearlings of incomparable softness and luster, dyed in colors to get lost in, including dark cherry reds, inky blues and VSOP-cognac browns. Some shearlings were hand-painted – either the tips or the roots – to evoke various types of idealized furs. She used it for everything, including bathrobe-like coats, drawstring pants and peplum jackets cinched tightly at the waist, which make the notched lapels jut out further.
Her expertise with leather also shone through in “Collection E,” which was displayed in the austere offices of Paris architect Dominique Perrault a few weeks ago. The embargo just lifted, so now we can show you her beefy batwing bomber jackets, sleek and papery shirts, and a fiercely chic wrap coat with peaked lapels and roomy sleeves. Deliveries are scheduled between June and December.
The magic of Philo’s clothes is that they are carefully studied, meticulously ironed, purposely creased, or washed just so, giving an offhand quality and a slouchy allure once on the body.
Occasionally they are crisp and severe, like a utility suit reminiscent of an M65 field jacket belted at the waist, worn with pants and high heels – or dreamily romantic as in a dead simple T-shirt dress in heavy silk satin flaring out like a trumpet, or a vertical version with bands of transparency to be worn over very little, or even a swimsuit.
Philo also designed one of the best T-shirts of the season, with small sleeves, a slight flare, a vaguely transparent fabric and strategically placed military patches around the collarbones. It’s the kind of dead-simple, urgently chic thing Helmut Lang used to design back in the day.
Many of her clothes are based on menswear archetypes including dressing gowns, double-breasted coats and Neopolitan tailoring. She even did an ultra-luxe interpretation of a Members Only jacket, in one of those deep, mysterious blues you can’t take your eyes off.
Philo operates outside the fashion rat race, which surely limits the attention her fine clothes deserve. But her low-key presentations let the impact of her clothes sink in, so they end up being more memorable.