What is it about Phoebe Philo's work that attracts such an ardent following? Is it the silhouettes? The fabrics? The colors? The intangible sense of austere stylishness that wafted from Philo's stark runway shows? All of the above?
All I know is that the women who adore Philo were so starved of her presence that, when Phoebe Philo (the brand) launched on October 30, they snapped up so much of her debut collection that it nearly sold out in mere days.
They say vote with your dollar and the fans clearly want four more years of Phoebe.
As a Philo neophyte, it all seemed utterly inexplicable that jackets that cost as much as cars were flying off the digital shelves, all without anyone ever touching a thread.
But it's only inexplicable to those who aren't Philophiles, as some call Phoebe Philo's truest devotees.
Philophiles know that Phoebe Philo is selling out because of the silhouettes, the fabrics, the colors, the tiny details only visible to obsessives willing to zoom wayyyyy in on the model photos.
But, above all, Phoebe Philo (the brand) is selling out because it's the physical manifestation of Phoebe Philo (the person).
To understand the demand, you must first comprehend the phenomenon of "Old Céline."
"In the 'Old Céline' days it felt like Phoebe Philo knew what we wanted to wear way before we did," said Martina Lohoff, founder of thearchivedotcom, who first purchased Philo's Céline over a decade ago. "It seems to be the same in her new collection."
Old Céline is a catchall descriptor of the Phoebe era, which predates current creative director Hedi Slimane's tenure at the all-caps CELINE.
There's a before and after at the LVMH-owned maison, a divide between BC and AD arguably more stark than any other leadership handoff in contemporary fashion. (LVMH holds a minority stake in the new Phoebe Philo brand)
Slimane was brought in to make CELINE more profitable: he was so successful that he managed to double the house's revenue to over €2 billion in under five years.
But though Slimane's CELINE is a critical and commercial hit, it hasn't lured back the Philophiles. They remain solely faithful to their idol. It's almost religious: the clothes are the gospel while Philo herself is the father, son, and holy spirit.
"Old Céline is not just fashion, it's the continuation of my soul," said Marina Davoyan, a luxury personal shopper and founder of @shopoldceline.
Davoyan, Phoebe Philo's self-described "biggest fan," told me that she once pretended that she lost her driver's license so that she could take a new photo — this time, of course, fully clad in her Céline grails.
Philo's Céline "was one of the first brands I connected with beyond just the product," recalled HURS founder and stylist Bonnie Langedijk. "Phoebe's clothes always make me feel comfortable yet dressed up — and isn't that what we all want?"
Philo's clothes are chic but have a sense of humor, according to Langedijk, which is itself a neat summation of Philo's appeal.
"People misunderstood Phoebe Philo and called her [work] 'minimalist," The New York Times editor Stella Bugbee wrote in a late October Instagram Story. "It wasn't. It was always a mix of weird and refined, more like essentialist."
Perhaps that's a better descriptor for Philo's Céline than the new Phoebe Philo, which includes both a silk satin gown that drapes to the floor and $5k viscose twill trousers "hand-combed" down their furry front. Surely, the new brand betrays Philo's "essentialist" past, no?
It is, affirms Davoyan, Philo's #1 fan, but it's not a departure. She instead posits that Phoebe Philo updates the "essentialist" air of Old Céline with an additional dash of charisma. It's not Old Céline 2.0 —Old New Céline? — but another thing entirely.
"I love the new collection," said Langedijk. "This collection feels cooler and rawer than her work at Céline. There's no archive to fall back on but they've already created clear, understated brand codes."
Phoebe Philo is, simply, an evolution. It's just the latest entry in the ongoing Phoebe Philo saga, one that was first written by Philo herself at Chloé, then at Céline, and then by fans in the interim period.
"The new collection is different from her prior work, if looked at superficially," Davoyan continued. "But to the trained eye of a Philophile, there are many references to her prior work."
These references include both obvious cues like "tailoring techniques" and subtle touches that Davoyan describes as "charming details" that only make sense in-person. You'd think that Phoebe Philo's online-only launch would upset these cues but, going off the depleted web store, you'd be wrong.
Some Philophiles, faced with the suddenness of the drop model that fuels the Phoebe Philo brand, dove headfirst into the new collection without a second thought. Sure, it was pricey but, then again, these aren't just clothes.
"I fell immediately in love with the chunky 'Mum" necklace," Lohoff said. "It´s continuing what I said before: I never knew that I needed a 'Mum' necklace but somehow Phoebe knew that I did."
Other fans practiced patience — Philophiles already waited nearly five years for Philo's return, what's another couple weeks for the second drop? These aren't mere clothes, after all, but a way of life.
"I've always saved up to buy into Phoebe's designs," Langedijk explained. "I feel like I'm buying into something bigger. They're a filter for how you see the world."
