Céline Autumn Winter 2014: A Fine Romance

Phoebe Philo's Céline upheld a more gently poetic beauty this season. Despite a lush, leafy backdrop, summer's bold colour palette and painterly weaves gave way to more muted shades and subtle fabrications for the forthcoming autumn.

The first look out spoke volumes. A slender black double-breasted coat, fitted to below the hip then flared to midway between the knee and the ankle, was worn with belle laide sandals with rippled elevated soles. The model's hair was pulled back into a loose coil at the nape of her neck; her face was fresh. It couldn't have been more understated - or more perfectly proportioned.

picture:yellow evening dresses

As the show went on this exit developed: a single rose sprouting at the collar bone and apparently part of the construction of the piece, a sailor neckline falling off a shoulder and emphasising the slenderness of the torso within and so forth.

The Céline girl may be minimally minded - Philo herself has always described her aesthetic simply as 'clean' - but she is a warm-blooded creature nonetheless. The aforementioned blooms were unashamedly romantic and elsewhere seams sprouting fluttering filaments also served to soften the precision of cut. A dirty prettiness exuded at least in some instances. Kilts were slashed thigh high but the sky blue gingham shirts worn with them were buttoned-up to the point of prim by contrast.

The long over long line Philo gave the world six months ago now was further explored here. Skinny rib-knitted dresses were layered over matching bell-bottom trousers. Yes, they're back. In typically oblique a manner the designer was clearly looking at the 1970s, Celine's one-time heyday neatly enough, as seen through the 1930s, and she must be obeyed.

There's a sense of utility in the air on runways across the board. Here this was expressed in felted and washed wools, sludge colours and visible stitching on footwear and soft, trapezoid bags finished with dull metal hardware.

Sunshine yellow - oversized fur hand warmers, that stitching again - and the aforementioned sky blue were the only bright splashes in sight.