‘SPHINX’ WHO SPURNED PARIS

VOGUE has called 44-year- old Phoebe Philo ‘ the oracle and Sphinx of fashion’. She’s turned Celine from being rather ‘so what’ into the ultimate status symbol.

Raised in Harrow- on-the-Hill, daughter of a surveyor father and graphic artist mother, the Saint Martin’s graduate is her own best advert, all winsome cheekbones and androgynous tailoring.

Best friend and assistant to Stella McCartney at Chloe, she took over when Stella left to launch her eponymous label. Philo later moved to Celine, where her clothes are as achingly minimal and expensive as fashion gets.

FAMILY MATTERS:

Married to old Etonian artist Max Wigram, they live in North London with their children, Maya, 12, Marlowe, ten, and Arthur, five.

When the Celine job offer came along, Phoebe would only take it if

london, not Paris, could be her headquarters.

‘i don’t know whether that comes from having a family — having something very important at home that needed to be protected,’ she reflected. ‘it was not something i was going to gamble with.’

FASHION NOTES:

Used to have a pierced nose and bleached hair, perhaps thanks to an early fascination with Boy George.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY:

owner LVMH reports ‘solid growth’ at Celine, and turnover is estimated at 600 million euros (£505 million).