Phoebe Philo: All the standouts from her brand’s debut collection

It has been the fashion world’s most talked-about moment of the year so far: six years after she left the fashion house Céline, the revered British designer Phoebe Philo has returned with the first collection of her own.

So what does it look like? Well, at first glance, it’s a little darker, a little edgier than the stuff she turned out during her tenure at Céline, with lots of looks that play about with proportion: a big, ravaged, feathery jacket turns its model into an enormous, but extremely chic, exotic bird.

Outerwear is a standout, with shouldered leather jackets with batwing sleeves that clinch to the waist, spindly legs wrapped in skinny leather leggings sticking out the bottom. There’s loads of slick tailoring in the form of wide-legged trousers and sharp-shouldered, floor-length coats, plus some more out-there pieces like the far-too-long shredded pants that pool around the model’s feet (avoid puddles at all costs). 

Rounding things off are casual, roomy sweaters and a slouchy pair of what look like acid-washed trackies, and even baggier combat pants, plus loads of eye-catching shoes, and a chunky necklace which spells out “MUM”. While Philo has kept quiet about inspirations and influences within the release’s accompanying press notes, the style wouldn’t look out of place in the jewellery pages of the Argos catalogue.

With prices set to give even the wealthiest a run for their money (the aforementioned necklace comes in at $5,000) there will also be strictly limited batches of the pieces going on sale, with demand purposely set to outstrip the pieces available – as much a step towards a sustainable business model as it is a way to build hype and desirability. The first drop is online now, with the next set to land in spring.