17/12/2022
Celine was founded by Céline Vipiana and her husband Richard in 1945 as a made-to-measure children’s shoe boutique that was located at 52 rue Malte. Finding success, the duo expanded and opened three more stores by 1948. More than a decade later, Vipiana used her success as a launch pad to branch out into ready-to-wear, with the goal to deliver fashion to the everyday woman. On a platform that advocated for practical clothing over frivolity, she launched a sportswear-driven line that revolved around wool skirt suits, fitted shirts, leather vests, and pastel-colored denim.
In 1963, she unveiled a women’s shoe line and a year later introduced Vent Fou, the brand’s first fragrance that featured notes of galbanum, jasmine, and rose. Vipiana added leather accessories in 1966, including bags, belts, and gloves. In her mission to deliver pieces of the highest caliber, she sought out a leather goods factory in Florence.
Vipiana remained the designer of Celine until she died in 1997 at 84 years old.
Over the many years designers put their signature style on the brand but no one did it like Phoebe Philo. She was the savior of Celine, having plucked the brand from obscurity and making it relevant through her incredibly chic and minimalist take on Vipiana’s original aesthetic. For her first collection, during the Spring 2010 season, she showed clothing that women aspired to wear: precise lines, and sharp tailoring that juxtaposed with fluid shapes, all rendered in a rigid color palette of neutrals. And Philo stuck with it all through her 10 years at the helm.
She also launched a slew of now-iconic bags (the Trapeze, Classic, Luggage, Cabas styles). While we all know and love the Celine of today—a wonderfully minimalist, no-fuss aesthetic that resonates with the modern-day working woman—it wasn’t always that way for the 73-year-old French brand.
