Ein weiteres erst kürzlich in China am Markt eingeführtes Modeunternehmen hat die Brieftaschen der Frauen mittleren Alters im Visier.

Text | He Zhexin

Editor | Qiao Qian

Aside from the outdoor market, there are few fashion brands capable of opening stores, and Phoebe Philo is one of them.

Recently, Phoebe Philo has signed contracts with five retailers in China. In addition to luxury multi - brand stores such as Lane Crawford, SKP, and Dover Street Market, there are also new players: B1OCK, Dongliang, and SND. These counters will be located in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, and Aranya respectively. This is Phoebe Philo's first foray into China and its most aggressive expansion strategy to date.

Some people regard Phoebe Philo as the favorite of "middle - aged women" - those urban women with independent aesthetics and consumption power, especially those with relatively strong spending ability. Even so, you'll still be easily intimidated by its prices: handbags with an average price of 40,000 - 50,000 yuan, shirts costing just over 10,000 yuan, and lambskin coats priced at 200,000 yuan each. The cheapest sunglasses cost 4,000 yuan.

Phoebe Philo herself once defended the pricing. She believes that buying clothes is a form of "investment," and this investment must be reflected in the price through excellent quality and exquisite craftsmanship. All of Phoebe Philo's collections are season - less, which might be the only aspect related to affordability: the more you wear, the more money you save.

That statement seems reasonable, but the question is: Will those who no longer pursue luxury brands be willing to choose Phoebe Philo?

A Religion

Before founding her eponymous brand, Philo was the creative director of Celine and Chloé. As a star creative director, Philo may not be as well - known as Tom Ford, John Galliano, or even Marc Jacobs. But in the eyes of insiders, Phoebe Philo is much more famous. She is the true originator of minimalism and the pioneer who freed women's clothing from male gaze. Countless designers draw inspiration from the "Philo Celine" era, from Peter Do to Daniel Lee. And any one of these "learning" works is enough for today's assembly - line designers to study for years.

Source: Phoebe Philo official website

In fact, there are very few designers who can achieve what Philo has. Her loyal fans, known as "Philophiles," still haven't recovered from the shock of her departure from Celine. There are some Instagram accounts dedicated to commemorating that era, such as @phoebephiloarchives and @oldceline. These accounts record the years Philo worked at this luxury brand in their bios, just like the birth and death dates on a tombstone: 2008 - 2018.

Philo dislikes business, avoids the media, and hates the fast - paced nature and artificially created scarcity in the fashion industry. However, this doesn't stop her from easily creating fashion trends. She contributed to the popularity of Stan Smith shoes and Birkenstocks. The wide - shoulder and narrow - waist cut is a must - have for today's "power - woman" designs. As for more non - iconic styles, such as long, heavy - drape pants with double folds on the front, high - necked and neck - hugging leather jackets... These styles can be found in almost all high - end fashion.

Critics praise Phoebe Philo to the skies. The Cut magazine wrote: "She eliminates all things that are unimportant, uncool, unbrave, but not absurd." Fans believe that Philo has the magic to endow ordinary items with luxury value. Once a real luxury item bears her name, "it immediately becomes as indispensable as a necessity."

And Philo herself described her works like this: loose jeans with zippers at the back, caveman - style long pants, and coats covered with fluffy embroidery, and high - necks similar to military uniforms. There is also a pillow - shaped silk "scarf" that looks like a combination of a giant donut and a neck brace.

"They are very intuitive," she said. "This is a response to what I see around me, how women dress, my own feelings, and my relationship with clothing." Philo doesn't like to tell stories. "This is a coat, this is a pair of pants - I really appreciate a certain degree of straightforwardness."

Intuition is a word that Phoebe Philo repeatedly mentioned in her few public interviews, which means her design philosophy has no direct connection with current fashion trends. This confidence mainly comes from her absolute control over the brand, which is very different from the roles of many star designers in luxury groups. The influence of the latter usually ends on the runway.

And this "near - autocratic" approach has become an invisible common language between Philo and her target customers. Don't forget, they are decisive and independent women.

Cindy Lau, one of the few Asian faces on the Phoebe Philo team, told 36Kr that the prototypes of many works come from Philo's own wardrobe, or even "works from the old Celine era." As a pattern - maker, Cindy spends most of her time modifying details. During new product launches, "working overtime all night is normal."

She said almost complainingly that Philo's requirements for the details of the works are unbearable. Many seemingly simple styles often require countless modifications. Even when the fitting room downstairs has started shooting, the pattern - makers and tailors upstairs are still making the final adjustments to the styles. No one, not even the closest team members, knows what styles will be finally launched each season.

In November 2023, Phoebe Philo launched 150 new products at once. Most of the new products were sold out within 24 hours of going on the market. On the second - hand market, the prices of these styles are almost 2 - 3 times the original price. Apart from the enthusiastic praise of critics and fashion insiders, most of the customers who bought these products are still the loyal fans of Phoebe Philo from her Celine era.

Is Phoebe Philo a religion? In a sense, yes. Imagine that you need to spend tens of thousands of yuan to buy these products without any physical contact (and the return policy is extremely strict). These items don't have prominent logos, and many of the styles are not easy to remember at first glance. They are just seemingly ordinary clothes and accessories.

But being a religion is obviously not enough.

What Are the Chances of Success?

Since last year, Phoebe Philo has been moving closer to business.

First, she tested the offline market. Phoebe Philo's counters have opened from Milan and Paris to New York and Los Angeles. When choosing retailers, in addition to traditional luxury stores, she has also started to cooperate with some emerging retail platforms. For example, B1ock is a multi - brand retail concept store launched by the JNBY Group in 2020. Phoebe Philo will open a 50 - square - meter in - store store on the fourth floor of its store in Tianmu Li, Hangzhou. At that time, it will also be displayed together with brands with similar styles, such as The Row, to more young and novelty - seeking consumers.

In addition, the first independent store will open in the upscale Mayfair neighborhood in London later this year. There are rumors that Phoebe Philo will also hold a fashion show and order - taking event.

Cindy told 36Kr that the PR team pays close attention to the dynamics of celebrities and ordinary bloggers on social platforms. "Posts by bloggers who take good photos or have a large number of followers will be included in the monthly selection of social posts for internal employees." Eventually, these posts may be seen by Philo herself. In the past, Philo disdained any social media promotion because she thought that her customers - serious women aged 30 - 50 - would not be addicted to any social software.

The popularity of Phoebe Philo declined after the launch of the second - season products. There are multiple reasons for this. Partly, the prices are indeed too high, the sizing is confusing, and the after - sales service is almost non - existent. But there is also a reality that Phoebe Philo herself may not want to admit: the fabric feel of these clothes far does not match their value. Some customers gave disappointed reviews after purchase, saying: "They are far inferior to the high - quality products I bought at Celine before and don't fit well either."

Source: Phoebe Philo official website

The most likely reason is that after going independent, Philo no longer has the support of resources such as factories and fabrics from LVMH, the parent company of Celine. By avoiding the fashion week order - taking model and adopting the DTC model with two new product seasons a year, it is difficult to predict potential demand, and the inventory risk will increase as the brand's scale expands. All these will be considered as cost factors.

Last year, the former creative director of LAVIN and the former CFO of Burberry announced their joining Phoebe Philo to support the brand's business development. Philo told The New York Times that they are working on improving the return policy, providing more payment methods, and notifying users when the products they like are restocked. As the product range expands, the price range will also widen, and the prices of some sweatshirts will be (relatively) more affordable.

Phoebe Philo's product development is divided into the RTW (ready - to - wear) group and the footwear, bags, and accessories group. Each group has its own pattern - making, design, and tailoring. Handbags and sunglasses are separately classified and displayed on the official website, which is also for practical sales reasons. Handbags, being non - seasonal, have more practical wearing scenarios, and sunglasses are one of the few items under 10,000 yuan in Phoebe Philo's product line.

This is the maximum compromise Philo can make. Most of the time, she is still the one who doesn't want to give too many explanations. On the official website, all four collections from 2023 to the present can be found. Tall, slender models who look like replicas of Phoebe Philo stand in front of a simple white cloth for the display - without any details. This makes the overall style of the website more like a lookbook or a buyer's magazine rather than a shopping destination. No one knows how much these emotional photographic works contribute to the actual purchase conversion rate.

The Collection D, which will be officially launched next year, still has the familiar style, but some subtle changes have quietly taken place. Critics believe that this season's works have "more absurd elements" compared to the previous ones. Many styles combine two or more forms. The hem of a shirt will abruptly connect to a floor - length skirt, a black mini - skirt is connected to overly long wide - leg pants, and even one trouser leg turns into a fishtail shape. If the past Phoebe Philo revealed sexuality through sharp cuts, today's Phoebe Philo has completely erased the gender component.

In this way, the biggest embarrassment for Philophiles may be that they don't have the same strong state of mind as Philo. Even if they buy these picky products, can they really ignore the normal definition of a perfect figure and the ubiquitous rough aesthetic influence cultivated by social networks and insist on "dressing for themselves"?

Moreover, no matter how much Philo avoids discussing business, the "middle - aged women" market is no longer virgin territory. The gap after Philo left Celine was too long. Six years was enough for minimalism to go from being avant - garde to being popular, and enough for a large number of brands, big and small, to emerge and fill every price range. Most of them are masters at creating strange visual and texture atmospheres and are very good at attracting attention on social networks.

In the end, Phoebe Philo is slowly becoming more like a typical luxury brand. Even though she has always disliked obvious logos, she still couldn't resist the temptation to print her name on T - shirts.