Phoebe Philo

Philo was born in Paris to British parents working there. Her father, Richard, is a surveyor and her mother, Celia, is an art dealer and graphic artist who had a hand in creating David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover. The family returned to Britain when she was two years old, and she was raised in Harrow, London. In 1987, at the age of 14, she began customizing her clothes after receiving a sewing machine as a birthday present from her parents.[2]

She studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, graduating in 1996. She graduated showing a final student collection that The Guardian would later described as having a "Latino influence and huge gold jewellery". She quickly joined Chloé as Stella McCartney's first assistant for ready-to-wear collection in Paris.[3]

Philo began working for Chloé in 1997 as Stella McCartney's design assistant, succeeding her as creative director in 2001.[4]

In 2006 Philo left Chloé. During this break from the industry, she moved back to London to be with her family and had her second child. In 2008, LVMH offered her a job as creative director and board member of the French Maison Céline, where she set up her studio for the company and continued to work in London whilst showing in Paris. She agreed, and presented her debut collection the next year to much critical acclaim.[5]

In 2017 after 10 years of working at Céline and much speculation in the media it was announced that Philo would step down as the creative director of Céline after the Pre-Fall 2018 collection.[6] She has not announced what her plans are for the future.

Philo married English gallerist and art dealer Max Wigram (b. 1966)[8] in July 2004. They live in London and have three children.