This season creative director Pheobe Philo takes Céline in a new direction that is heavily inspired by renowned singer Kate Bush, and her song “This Woman’s Work” in particular. “I didn’t listen to her music much growing up,” admitted Philo to the Telegraph UK backstage of the SS15 Céline runway show, but stated she found the song “incredibly moving”, which inspired the pieces of the collection to challenge its own certainties. The collection this season is, like Bush’s work, from the heart and is less concerned with strictness and audience reception. “I’ve been thinking this summer how edited the world is,” said Philo to the Telegraph UK, “...how we’re all so concerned with how things will turn out. And I was very interested in exploring that and not editing as I normally do”. In SS15, rather than the perfectionist-inspired elongated silhouettes and heavy coats that one is used to seeing in a Céline collection, there is lightness and at times, playfulness in pieces that are contenders for the high-street. There are colours, as demonstrated by the multicoloured floral short-sleeved shift dress in red flower and sunflower patterns, but there is also high-fashion consistency, demonstrated by the appearance of the summer knit – a knit top that is ¾ sleeved in staple colours of chalk, black and red. For more knitted variety there is the sleeveless knit tunic and the sleeveless knit dress, also in chalk, black and red, maintaining the side of Philo that follows the rules and the traditional conventions of Céline expected by the world of high-fashion. The stunning knitted pieces are complemented by the Ballerina heels that come in optic white, tan or burgundy, to create a timeless look that exudes Céline sophistication as well as a burst of spontaneity as inspired by the musical stylings of Kate Bush. The shoes in SS15 are ballerina inspired with the presence of silver ballerina flats that unlike the “un-Céline” nature of the floral prints in SS15, display the classical sophistication and elegance of a Céline shoe. The flats are a highlight to the long-sleeved red or green dress for an elegant summer look. Philo explains the “un-Céline”-ness of this season’s collection, as noticed by Elle and Vogue as well as on the online blogosphere by Harper and Harley, Anna Dello Russo and Cupcakes and Cashmere, by saying “I wanted the pieces to feel vintage...normally I might eliminate the florals at an early editing stage. But I wanted to just let things go”, likening to Kate Bush’s ability to “completely know who she is”. “I find that very inspiring” Philo stated to the Telegraph UK, and followed this through with a fashion collection that, like Kate Bush’s musical collection, is a manifesto for women.