A polished sterling silver necklace made up of the repeated word ‘MUM’ sits under a glass box at Modemuseum Hasselt in Belgium. Taken from Phoebe Philo’s eponymous debut exactly one year ago, the object’s place in ‘M&OTHERS’ – an exhibition that explores fashion through the rarely examined viewpoint of mother figures in all their forms – is symbolic of Philo’s influence beyond defining the look of the 2000s.
Whilst she was creative director at Chloé in 2005, Philo was the first high-profile female designer to take maternity leave, skipping a season to do so. She told the Evening Standard: ‘Having a baby is a serious, serious priority… I want to enjoy having a newborn and to protect my time in those precious first few months.’ 18 years later, the closing shot of the brand’s A/W 2024 show is of creative director Chemena Kamali and her young son in a warm embrace. The internet swooned. But how much progress has been made?
