Phoebe Philo’s putative appointment at Celine puts to rest the myth that the days of the “star designer” are over.

This was the claim that the management at PPR, the luxury holding company, made in 2004, when Tom Ford left the Gucci group, one of PPR’S subsidiaries.

The designer ranks are no longer bursting with “stars” of Karl Lagerfeld or Gianni Versace stature. There are only a handful of designers under 50 whose fame permeates all levels of society. Few these days are prepared to live with the notoriety necessary to sustain the recognition.

However, there’s another breed of “star” – quieter personalities, such as Philo, who are well known within influential circles. It was a combination of Philo’s reticence to be thrust in the limelight and her instinct for designing pretty but cool clothes that made her a star.

With fashion show footage available within hours to anyone with access to a computer, it doesn’t take long for an insider to become mainstream. Philo’s triumph was still to seem like an insider while turning Chloé into a hugely commercial brand. And then suddenly she walked away. Some said she found the weekly commute from London to Paris a grind. Others hinted at postnatal depression. Whatever the explanation, she was missed, especially when her replacement, Paulo Melim Andersson, proved such an incompatible fit.

Unlike Tom Ford, who seemed temporarily lost after he departed Gucci, Philo kept a low profile, enjoying home life, quietly consulting for Gap in London.

But the lure of a big brand even one that has been in decline, won her round.

Quite how she pitches Celine now that one of her old protégées is at the helm of Chloé, remains to be seen. Is there room for two girly labels? Does fashion still want that?

Celine is a brand with a different DNA from Chloé’s – one for Park Avenue Princesses rather than Portobello Bohos and ragga girls who used to inspire Philo. Then again, there’s always room for lovely, wearable clothes. And even Portobello Bohos have to grow up eventually.

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