Phoebe Philo's Spring show for Celine has proven seriously influential on the pre-fall collections. The wide belts and Basque silhouettes that looked new on her runway back in October have become regular occurrences in presentations over the course of the last month. Her latest outing finds her exploring similar territory. We didn't see a lot of belts, per se, but the top worn under a black pantsuit had that same peplum look, and a white silk cady evening dress belled out from a high waistband. In general, Philo seems most turned on by slightly oversize shapes. The show-opening black coat had a generous cut with slouchy, overlong sleeves, and super-baggy only begins to describe a pair of black glove-leather pants she paired with a black and white spotted sweatshirt. Our guess is the tapered pair shown with a color-blocked turtleneck will be a more popular option at the Madison Avenue store that's slated to open at the end of this month.
Other familiar ideas that she tweaked and re-floated here: crisp cotton pants and button-downs veiled in contrasting chiffon, and shift dresses that looked utterly spartan save for leather patch pockets. Fur was an important component of the collection; the most eye-catching was a leather-belted bicolor style that echoed the pattern of the silk ikat pants it topped. Philo's fans will be most turned on by the pinstripe pantsuit. It felt fresh in the way those peplums did last season.
