Although British Phoebe Philo was born in Paris in 1973. Her father was a property developer and her mother a graphic designer. She graduated in 1996 from Central St. Martins fashion college in London, a training ground for Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, before her.

In 1997, she joined the Paris house of Chloe (click here for more details) and worked as number two to Stella McCartney. In April 2001, when Stella left to start her own label, Phoebe Philo took over as chief designer for Chloe, a French house started in the 1950's known for it's ultra-feminine frilly romantic clothes.

She presented her first collection for Chloe, for Spring/Summer 2002 and it was a wild success. Here is one of the dresses from the collection. She has now proved that she has the creative ability to run Chloe on her own. Over the years, there have been rumours that many of the successes of Chloe have been due to the designs of Phoebe rather than Stella but that can now all be forgotten.

Phoebe has many plans for Chloe, including boutiques for lingerie and perfumes, as well as swimwear. She wants to have a boutique in every major city in the world.

Phoebe Philo presents the Chloe collections every season during Paris Fashion Week. To read all about Chloe click here.

On a personal note, Phoebe and her partner art curator Max Wigram, had a baby girl Maya in early 2005.

Designer of the Year

At the British Fashion Awards in November 2004 in London, Phoebe was named Designer of the Year. She is credited with increasing sales at Chloe by 40 percent since last season.

Phoebe Philo may leave Chloe

There are rumours that Phoebe may leave Chloe, where she has been so successful. She is unhappy not to be living in London with her family. Chloe management tried hard by setting up a London studio a month ago, but she is still miserable apparently.

Phoebe had a daughter Maya in March and had only returned to work in time for the September ready-to-wear collection, most of which was designed by her team not her. Chloe had negotiated a new contract which she signed last month, so it is a bit tricky.

2005