My Heart Aches for Phoebe Philo's Celine, But These 7 Brands Are Helping

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(Image credit: @pernilleteisbaek)

When Celine's parent company, LVMH, announced that the French fashion house's creative director of a decade was to depart, many were shocked. To say that Phoebe Philo had gained a cult following is likely an understatement. I count myself as one of the many fans of her cerebrally minimalist designs. So when her successor, Hedi Slimane, presented his first Celine collection last week during Paris Fashion Week—a predictably sharp departure from the house's previous aesthetic—I identified with the outpouring of "Philophiles" who expressed their loss for Philo's designs all over social media.

In the present-day fashion world, change is not only inevitable but frequent and jolting. Yet the concept that Philo presented at Celine spoke so deeply and to so many modern women that this particular changing of the guards cuts deeper than most. Though the end of this particular era in fashion may have come to a close, there are always fresh voices emerging to fill the space.

I've found a similar ethos in each of these seven fashion brands that mirror how Phoebe Philo's designs for Celine used to make me feel—imbued with a quiet sense of confidence and power. If you, too, are searching for new brands to ease the pain of losing Philo, keep reading to discover and shop the labels I'll be investing in.

Georgia Alice

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Tôteme

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Khaite

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Bevza

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Les Coyotes de Paris

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Paris Georgia

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Aalto

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Shopping (or purely getting inspired by) these brands should ease the pain of Phoebe Philo's departure.

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Senior Editor

Anna is an editor on the fashion team at Who What Wear and has been at the company for over five years, having begun her career in the Los Angeles office before relocating to New York, where she's currently based. Having always been passionate about pursuing a career in fashion, she built up her experience interning at the likes of Michael Kors, A.L.C., and College Fashionista before joining the team as a post-graduate assistant editor. Anna has penned a number of interviews with Who What Wear's cover stars over the years, including A-listers Megan Fox, Issa Rae, and Emma Chamberlain. She's earned a reputation for scouting new and emerging brands from across the globe and championing them to our audience of millions. While fashion is her main wheelhouse, Anna led the launch of WWW Travels last year, a new lifestyle vertical that highlights all things travel through a fashion-person lens. She is passionate about shopping vintage, whether it be at a favorite local outpost or an on-the-road discovery, and has amassed a wardrobe full of unique finds. When she's not writing, you can find her shooting street imagery on her film camera, attempting to learn a fourth or fifth language, or planning her next trip across the globe.