A Lady In Leather

Celine Pre-Collection A/W 13

When I first began reading Vogue, I remember flicking past the Celine ads with scorn, wondering why a brand that was so bland was so popular and highly praised. Minimalism, to my 13 year old self, was a mystery, and one I believed you had to be old to solve. But since then my palette has matured and I have garnered a taste for the sartorial splendour that is Celine.

After the Rawness of her Spring Collection, Phoebe Philo's Pre A/W 13 collection pushed the boundaries of traditional tailoring by pushing and pulling to extreme proportions to achieve an anarchic take on sartorial classics.With mannish two piece suits  and the classic blouse being supersized into Alice in Wonderland standards, their masculinity is juxtoposed by feminine pear buttons and oversized A-line leaher skirts. Slick Leather overcoats and fur mounds of jacket are paired with androgynous platforms, my biggest weakness this season. The Deep straw boaters perched on the sleek, girl next door hair brings to mind the image of a teenage Jane March in the Lover, travelling to China in a silk dress and her father's hat. And these Giant belt buckles are so pantomime-esque I expect them to be accompanied by a Celine ivory Giant's beater and pirate boots.