Phoebe Philo Has Always Made Boring Shoes Beautiful
Of the many, many shoe silhouettes in the world, the humble plimsoll may be the most basic. That’s not a drag. The ubiquitous casualwear shoe with a canvas upper and flat rubber sole has been in circulation since the 1870s for a reason: Namely, comfort and ease. This lineage also means that the plimsoll has been fodder for many a designer looking to put their stamp on a classic style.
Add fashion legend Phoebe Philo to the list. Her namesake brand has released a lace-up version of a low-top skate-style shoe that comes in either a classic all-black or two far bolder color combos: Soft yellow with a dark green sole, or soft pink with a bright red sole. Be warned that these aren’t your average summer shoes, however — a single pair of these sneakers will set you back $950.
Eye-wateringly expensive? Yes, but a steal compared to The Row’s $1,090 flip flops, one of the many modern brands to have graduated with honors from the School of Phoebe Philofication. And the shoes are, to be clear, quite exquisite.
Really, the sneakers are quintessential Philo: Familiar shape, freshly reconsidered. The canvas upper was washed before it was sewn for the sake of softness and a leather insole provides a more sumptuous step than typical skate shoes. And the shape is tweaked just enough to be something more than what it once was. Notice that the form of the conventional skate shoe has been at once plumped up and streamlined — thick at the heel, thicker at the midsole, and then sleek from the tongue down, creating a shoe that's both meatier and more minimal than its forebears.
There’s a reason that a legion of fashion obsessives swear by all things Philo; she’s been a bastion of so-called “quiet luxury” since before many young designers picked up their first fabric shears. Philo’s appeal doesn’t just boil down to the beautifully cut clothing she’s released through her label and historic stints as creative director for Céline and Chloé — it’s her magic touch for transforming otherwise basic shoes into beautiful products that sets her apart.
She made the chunky wooden wedge an it-item at Chloé in 2006 and reinterpreted the Birkenstock Arizona for Céline in 2012, adding fur lining years before the likes of Giambattista Valli, Givenchy, Acne, and Birkenstock itself trotted out luxurious spins on the famously “unsexy” shoe.
Her take on simple, peat green rubber rain boots for the Céline Spring 2018 collection predates the (admittedly far wackier) Bottega Veneta Puddle by a few years.
And that’s not to say Philo can’t get down with the freaks: lest we forget her early foot fetish-friendly nude pump with trompe l’oeil toes and animalistic mink fur heels?
Even her personal shoe preferences can cause waves. Philo wearing a pair of Stan Smiths during her post-show bow at a few Céline shows in the early aughts almost single-handedly recontextualized the basic trainer into a high-fashion staple.
Footwear has always been one of Philo’s fortes — a Vogue review of her first Céline collection in 2009 noted that “the first thing I want is the shoes off her feet” — and her latest plimsoll proves she really can turn any style, no matter how basic, into a surprisingly urgent classic.
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