Could Phoebe Philo be close to signing a deal to take creative control of LVMH brand Celine? Our sources say “yes”. While there have been rumors circulating about Phoebe Philo’s return to fashion for some time now, earlier talks with Paris-based luxury conglomerate LVMH had reportedly broken down over alleged salary demands back in March. If you recall, Philo first came to prominence in the fashion industry during the mid 90’s as Stella McCartney’s right hand “man” so-to-speak when the two were churning out hip ready-to-wear at Chloe (Groupe Richemont). Philo dutifully stepped into McCartney’s design shoes when the latter left Chloe to found her own eponymous brand (PPR/Gucci Group). While Philo’s debut at the helm of Chloe was somewhat shaky, she managed to pull off a near impossible feat - she emerged from McCartney’s shadow to imprint her own aesthetic identity on the fashion house gaining the respect of the fashion press and retail buyers alike. She left the fashion world gobsmacked when at the height of her success at Chloe, she resigned her position as Creative Director to focus on her young daughter. Celine is currently in the hands of Croatian-born Ivana Omazic who studied fashion design in Milan and honed her skills under the tutelage of Miuccia Prada. According to The Luxe Chronicles’ sources, Omazic is (was?) in the midst of designing the Spring/Summer 2009 collection. Omazic had replaced Michael Kors who designed briefly for the brand. Stay tuned for further detail.

Photo by Marcio Madeiras, courtesy of Style.com.

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Two years ago when I bought my fitted Juicy black blazer with velvet lapels, I thought I was done with this staple. One good quality one is all I thought I’d need. But then this other black blazer popped up on the rack and it had gorgeous silk mini ruffles on the neck collar and black subtle pinstripes AND it was 70% off. I couldn’t resist. Then this summer, there was this super fitted dark gray (with a hint of sparkle), 3/4 sleeved blazer with this to die for fancy double layered collar thing also on sale- I had to have it. So really, one can reasonably conclude that I’ve reached my quota for black blazers. For the record, I have had great mileages for all of them- so they were all completely worth it. Unfortunately recently, I find my eyes wandering again in the black blazer arena…….
While I have enough sharply fitted blazers that stops flatteringly at the waist, I don’t have any more loosely shaped blazers that stops at the lower waist. And thus I cannot achieve the totally casual chic look shown above by the Stella McCartney blazer (left) and the Paul & Joe blazer (right) with the sleeves scrunched up. Loosely fitted yet tailored they are the perfect compliment to the more loosely fitted styles that is the trend of late. I saw Heidi Klum wear such a blazer over a cute dress on Project Runway this season (or I thought I did, since I looked back and could not find it!), and thought, wow I need one of those! I was just facing such a dilemma the other day when I was wearing a dress and couldn’t find an appropriate jacket to wear over it. All my other black blazers are simply too fitted and short that it makes the whole look too proper and put together, which totally defeats the current style of casual chic dresses. This more casually fitted blazer cutting neatly solves the problem. The above styles from Tucker (left) and Theory (right) demonstrates my point perfectly. Also note the yellow and gray color theme going on here with the Tucker blazer and the Paul & Joe blazer look.
This blazer also works for a more casual office chic look as seen above from the Zara catalog. They even have a sleeveless version for the summer! Sigh…. I think I’ve almost convinced myself that I need yet another black blazer with this post. It seems like such an investment staple! Or do I?

Image Source: Zara, Shopbop, Net a Porter and Elle