Chloe

Somehow this season, you really see the difference between how men design for women, and how women design for women. Take Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent where the all-sheer dresses impose unreal standards. And now look at Chemena Kamali‘s Chloé debut, where ease, frivolity, chic, and joy interweave, opening up a new, very promising chapter at the brand. The authentic stir of enthusiasm among female front-rowers of the show were the first sign that Chemena’s has is to make Chloé really, really cool again. Kamali knows the history of the brand inside out, and worked there as a Chloé-obsessed junior designer in the noughties under Phoebe Philo’s creative direction, and then again under Clare Waight Keller. Nobody knows better than Kamali the spontaneous feeling of it-ness that belongs to the female-centric Chloé philosophy; a power recharged through so many generations since the house was founded in the 1950s by the Jewish-Egyptian emigré Gaby Aghion as a free-spirited ready-to-wear antidote to Parisian haute couture. Kamali called autumn-winter 2024 fittingly, as the “Intuition” collection. “You know, it’s how it makes you feel and how you want to feel,” she said. “I think there’s this connection where today as a woman you need to be able to follow your intuition and be yourself. It’s very much about an intuitive way of dressing, about lightness, movement, fluidity and emotion. I also, love the power of nostalgia; where you go backwards, you go forwards – you also think of today and what women want to wear now.” The collection was triumphant remix of all things Chloé stands for. Karl Lagerfeld’s 1970s time at the brand was referenced by brilliant white scalloped-edged blouse and swirling musketeer capes, modernized with cool boot-cut flares and kitten-heel clogs. Then, we had splendid iterations of bracelet-bags and platform sandals that were Chloé’s bread-and-butter during Philo’s reign. Bananas and pineapples (redone as gilt jewelry) were nods to Stella McCartney’s tongue-in-cheek time at the house. What felt very Chemena was the ease with which she remixed the brand’s codes, and how she single-handedly gave rebirth to the style of the both real and fictional 2000s It-girls: Sienna Miller, Serena Van Der Woodsen, Kate Moss, the Olsen twins. Finally, huge lived-in bags, platform clogs, sexy denims, lingerie dresses are back, baby.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Since Phoebe Philo‘s big comeback that we’ve all experienced during the late autumn, I love digging into her work at Chloé – an underrated era from early 2000s, before reinventing Céline. What I find truly intriguing is that Philo subtly refers to her Chloé days in her new work. For her spring-summer 2002 debut , avoiding in-your-face rock ’n’ roll attitude, the British designer blurred the distinction between day and evening wear with breezy separates inspired by ’70s Saint Tropez, Brigitte Bardot, and Talitha Getty. A sense of easygoing elegance permeated everything from fitted tops with intricately worked sleeves to lace-trimmed camisoles and fabulous monkey-appliqué bathing suits. A long suede skirt with blush gray and black panels exuded earthy chic, as did the Moroccan-style beaded bags and sandal-boots in aged gold leather. There were also plenty of high-impact sexy staples, a category Philo and Stella McCartney introduced to the brand during the latter’s tenure (Phoebe was Stella’s right-hand at that time). The low-slung flared pants with flirty cutouts at the hips, pinafore shorts, summery minidresses and punchy T-shirts with net backs could easily pass in 2023 and look absolutely HOT.

P.S. I also happen to have an amazing macramé blouse from this collection, waiting for a new owner in my vintage shop!