Family before fashion?

The cancelation of the Celine fall 2012 catwalk show has sparked an international dialogue

about how design houses and their star designers deal with life situations.

Philo's highly publicised pregnancy means the designer will not only need time off for the birth, but also to bond with the baby. A typical three to six months maternity leave on the fashion calendar means you miss out on a season. That's a hard pill to swallow for design houses who rely on their creative directors to lead the house and design team. It also means a collection could end up disasterous without the thread and voice of its designer. That is why creative directors are paid very lucrative contracts, so they deliver above and beyond the scope of duty, and which somehow makes it ok to subject them to these high levels of pressure.

That pressure was no doubt part of the John Galliano and LVMH relationship. Whilst the designer's fall from grace was entirely his responsibility, the lead up to the event, the pressure of a designer to create collection after collection, season after season will take its toll.

As Celine chief executive said to the FT about foregoing a traditional catwalk show: "We could miss some marketing opportunities, however we do not believe it would represent a significant impact in the scope and term of our project. In the end, all we do is made by people through their talent and skills. It's all about humans, isn't it?"