A TROJAN SOURCE
How Phoebe Philo appears to have utilized Illustrations depicting a scene from Euripides’s Greek tragedy Troades, essentially an anti-war allegory, in which the character Andromache is trying to protect her son Astyanax from the Greek soldiers who have come to murder him, a scene that ultimately encapsulates the barbaric nature of war. The print of the illustrated etching appears on ivory pleated fabric in two separate looks shown on Philo’s Spring 2018 runway for Céline... Though the particular print she used for her textiles is unknown, the infamous scene has been depicted by numerous artists throughout history... The printed textiles are tragically beautiful in their own right, but one has to wonder if this was Philo’s subversive political commentary on the Syrian humanitarian crisis which was making headlines months prior to the show...
A Woodcut Print of the Wooden Horse of Troy from The Iliad • A 17th-century reprint of the first edition of the work to be translated into Modern Greek • 1640 • Venice • Image courtesy of the University of Glasgow Library Special Collections Department
The Trojan Women, also translated as The Women of Troy, and also known by its transliterated Greek title Troades, is the third tragedy in a trilogy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced in 415 BC during the Peloponnesian War, it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos and the subsequent slaughter and subjugation of its populace by the Athenians earlier that year... Euripides's play follows the fates of the women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and their remaining families taken away as slaves. The four Trojan women of the play are the same that appear in the final book of the Iliad lamenting over the corpse of the Trojan prince and warrior, Hector. Among them is Hector’s widow, Andromache. Notably, her name means "man battler" or "fighter of men" or "man fighter" or "man's battle.” The widowed princess’s lot is to become a concubine, which is further compounded when she learns that her baby son, Astyanax, has been condemned to die. The Greek leaders are afraid that the boy will grow up to avenge his father’s death, and rather than take this chance, they plan to throw him off from the battlements of Troy to his death.
A model wearing a Classical Grecian inspired skirt and blouse from the Spring / Summer 2018 Collection • Phoebe Philo for Céline
Agnes Nieske Abma modeling a Grecian inspired ensemble from Phoebe Philo’s Spring / Summer 2018 Collection for Céline • Harper's Bazaar Russia • Agata Pospieszynska
A print depicting Andromache trying to protect Astyanax from the Greek soldiers who have come to murder him • Circa 1700 – 1739 • A Louis Desplaces print after a painting by Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York CIty
A model wearing a Classical Grecian inspired skirt and blouse from the Spring / Summer 2018 Collection • Phoebe Philo for Céline
A print depicting Ulysses finding Astyanax hidden in Hector's tomb, and Andromache begging him to spare her son • Circa 1710 - 1750 • A Jean Audran print after a painting by Louis de Silvestre • The British Museum, London
A print depicting Astyanax Discovered by Odysseus • Circa 1627 - 1655 • A Samuel Bernard print after a painting by Sébastien Bourdon • Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Model wearing a Grecian inspired ensemble from Phoebe Philo’s Spring / Summer 2018 Collection for Céline
Ivory skirt featuring a print of a classical illustration of war • Spring / Summer 2018 Collection • Phoebe Philo for Céline
Le Jeune Astianax qu’Andromaque avoit caché dans le tombeau d’Hector est arraché des bras de sa Mere par les ordres d'Ulisse (Young Astianax, who Andromache Hid in Hector's Tomb, is Seized from his Mother's Arms by Ulysses' Orders • 1766 • François-Philippe Charpentier • National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Cara Taylor modeling a Grecian inspired ensemble from Phoebe Philo’s Spring / Summer 2018 Collection for Céline • Vogue Japan • Emma Summerton
A print depicting Astyanax being dropped from the Walls of Troy • Artist Unknown
Chiharu Okunugi modeling a Grecian inspired ensemble from Phoebe Philo’s Spring / Summer 2018 Collection for Céline • Vogue China • Paul Wetherell
