Leider ist ein technischer Fehler aufgetreten.

Gallerist chic

Text by Max Berger

In the summer, Phoebe Philo set the internet abuzz and triggered many, many thousand likes and jubilant comments with the news that she was returning with her own label, sending fans of her unique style vision into a frenzy. The designer’s catwalk collections for Céline at the end of the noughties were designed for intelligent women – women who perhaps worked in culture sector: gallerists, curators or authors. Grown-up, independent women who were slightly edgy and very cool.

Philo’s look? As difficult to pin down as the dress code “Casual Chic”. Billowing, high-waisted trousers worn with t-shirts and leather blouses, generously cut coats, precisely tailored silk dresses, blocky sandals, polo neck jumpers always a size larger (optionally with hair tucked in) worn over slim cigarette pants or wide-leg trousers: all of these could be classed as essential elements of the “artistically intellectual” style. If one were forced to distil this down to a basic philosophy, it would probably be: always reduced, never constrained or tight.

After the corona pandemic, it will come as no surprise that this style is back in greater demand than ever. Now, it’s all about the basics: stylishly packaged comfort and design that is thrillingly timeless. It’s a philosophy that is instantly perceptible in the latest collections by labels such as Jil Sander, Gabriel Hearst and Rejina Pyo. And also in the latest collection by Closed, where it is referenced in triangular neck scarves worn over leather shirts, straight-cut blazers and slightly flared knitted trousers, and palazzo pants with matching tailored coats.

There’s another reason why the fashion world was so breathlessly excited about Philo’s return: as the high priestess of practical, clever, casual but never silly or desperately youthful fashion – in other words, fashion by women for women – her departure left a painful gap that was never filled. Despite the new feminism, the large majority of chief designer positions in the luxury fashion houses remain firmly occupied by men. While this doesn’t mean that their designs fail to meet the needs and desires of modern women, their way of looking at women differs vastly from how modern women look at themselves.

Philo, who graduated from the legendary Central Saint Martins College of Fashion (like fashion artists John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Craig Green), once summed up her vision like this: “What I love is this idea of a wardrobe, the idea that we’re establishing certain signatures and updating them, that a change in colour or fabric is enough. I do think that the world doesn’t need many more frivolous bits and bobs that end up left in cupboards or landfills.” In other words, for Philo it was never about creating a wardrobe for a certain type of woman, but simply about excellently made garments – and that’s something you can never have enough of.

Closed Spring 2022 Collection

Closed Spring 2022 Collection