Chloe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2017

Claire Waight Keller said good bye yesterday. She’s ending her six year tenure at Chloe with a last fall-collection. Her aim was to send with an optimistic collection that was also about escapism.
Waight Keller’s take on escapism is pragmatic and pristine, rendered via patterns — prints of opium poppies and a Wonderland mushroom motif.
One thing the designer definitely wanted to escape: a retrospective approach. To that end, she tempered her penchant for flou, along the way sacrificing the Chloé girl boho allure that she has worked so deftly in the past. In its place: little dresses cut short and straight in a late-Sixties vein. As for the tailoring, it looked strong. Let’s wait and see what she will bring next season – she will definitely be working at another fashionhouse.

Chloe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear SS2016

What would happen if you mix up western and 90’s grunge-era influences with sporty vibes? Well, you get the Chloe look of spring 2016. It’s like putting together Kate Moss and Courtney Love with the girl from the prairie; sounds like an odd combination, but somehow it works perfectly fine. The result is an interesting mix of its signature bohemian chic hit pieces such as airy maxi dresses -off-shoulder and halter neck-, printed tunics, gladiator sandals, lace details and soft colours, combined with tracksuits, sporting stripes, raw edged denim, harem pants, jogging trousers and tank tops. And did you see all those amazing rainbow colours? The flowy rainbow maxi dress, softly hovering around the models body, was definitely a statement item. Just imagine yourself in this summer stunner(can we skip winter, please?) Designer Claire Waight Keller obviously had a more youthful focus this time, though without completely falling back on the girlish and innocence again. Perhaps she felt it was time for a change and for the Chloe girl to see what’s still intact of her sturdy, grungy side. Well, it seems she’s doing just fine.

Chloe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2014

Not young girls walked the Chloé runway on Sunday, but grown women, sophisticad and elegant. Women with taste, who know fashion should be fun but wearable too. And so Waight Keller’s Chloé collection full of loose fitting designs seemed appropriate for women of any kind of shape and size. Strong woolen coats (in pastel shades), leather pants (in shades like nude and burgundy), and fur sweaters (in off white and mustard) were true winter pieces. Yet some of the creations (the second ruffled dress, an airy floral printed number with sheer star shaped patches and a printed skirt with sheer white blouse, to name a few) appeared a little too chilly, even for fall. With the brand’s minimalistic highlights behind us the more sober designs remained the strongest pieces out of the bunch. Apart from a rainbow leopard creation prints failed to make a big impression, while a navy dress with golden buttons around the collar seemed a little too forced. No, forget the party dresses and sheer sexiness; the Chloé woman is on top of her game rocking her every day, slightly oversized, wardrobe, which might not scream fashion, but can make any regular day oh so chic.

Chloé Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2013

Oversize clean looks are Clare Waight Keller’s biggest bet for 2013. They were given both sporty and elegant references like bold shapes, reflecting sleeve details and flower appliqués. Perhaps Keller took the girly-ness a little too far when she sent out a series of sweet, sheer and ruffled dresses. But at least she presented them in this season’s it-way; worn over Bermuda shorts (another hit for SS2013). Blouses with standing collars and cross over jackets added a subtle touch of Asia. In Palais de Tokyo an Chloé exhibition which covers 60 years of the brand has just opened. And this collection would have fit in just fine.

 

Chloe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris ss2012

That was a light-hearted and feminine first Chloe-collection of Clare Waight Keller. The British designer just came from Pringle of Scotland and made a big change crossing the Channel.

She said to the press she wanted ‘a sense of ease and femininity’ in her collection, and she succeeded. She even used elements Karl Lagerfeld introduced during his time at Chloe, not only the prints but also embroideries. Keller took the flower-prints and put them at the sides of white pants and shorts or all over a white blouse.

Pleats, a major trend in the European collections, were a key element and gave the collection an appealing attitude. The show opened with  long, flowing dresses, where the over-dyed pleats looked like sunrays. There were boyish elements too, like wide shorts and trousers, and sheer dresses shaped like dungarees and worn over a tunic.

Trend Report SS2011: minimal effort, major success

This season too, you can look terrific without looking like you’ve spend hours in front of the mirror. Yes, we’re talking about the minimalistic look which is still a big trend in fashion. This season besides Chloe, Celine and Calvin Klein other brands have joined in on the fun as well. Derek Lam, Isabel Marant and Jil Sander all opted for the less is more look in their spring/summer collections.

And the great twist of this season is color. So after the minimalistic white, nude and black, there’s the minimal red, yellow, pink and even turquoise. The rest of the minimalistic rules remain the same though; clean cuts, no prints, straight lines and no extra fuzz (cutouts, frills, ruffles, bows etc).

Looking chic was never this easy…

Chloe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2011

The rumor went that Hannah McGibbon had to leave Chloe depending on the reaction to her fall 2011/12 collection. That rumor seemed false and the collection proved Chloe doesn’t need another designer.

Her signature pieces for the Chloe-girl were all in the collection:  ponchos, dungarees, denim, super-wide trousers. It’s a Seventies whirl with a modern attitude. The big story for fall is snakeskin: printed on chiffon blouses, coats, in panels, dyed green fro skirts, knitted into a dress. New also was a bold use of colour: red and green, mint and grey, brown, cream.  She even had a paisley-print.

The collection lacked a bit coherence though, there were romantic dresses, heavy kaftans, sporty leather suits, denim skirts. As if the designer had too many ideas.

Catwalktrend FW2010: the camelcoat

It’s a classic fashion piece you might remember seeing your grandparent in, but it’s a new trend. The camel coat is one of the musthave items of this fall. It gives you a strong look and immediate esteem.

Fashion brands like Gucci, Chloe, MaxMara and Alexander Wang all showed the camelcoat in their fall collections. Most of the coats were long (over the knee) and had little shape. Yet Chloe and MaxMara proved you can make the coat a little more feminine by wearing a small belt over it, around the waist. Dark brown seemed to be a good match for camel, not only for the belt, brown boots, gloves and bags fit perfectly with the coat too.

One thing: while the coats are so big this trend will not look great on just anybody. You’d have to have a certain length to pull of a coat like the ones we saw at MaxMara. But if your the right type, you gotta work it!

Chloe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Well, camel is the new black for next fall. And clean, sporty minimalism is the trend.

The collection Chloe’s Hannah MacGibbon sent out yesterday had it all. Her collection mixed the all classic American sportswear with a Seventies touch. It looked sleek and sensual – especially the wide legged trousers with high waist – everything was cut loosely to the body, there were great, big coats, sweater-like cashmere T-shirts and elegant blouses with draped bow details.

The only that we missed was, ehm, color. Besides 80 % camel, brown and black were the only ‘colors’ in the collection. That made it look a bit dull and tame, while camel is a great color to mix with some vibrant orange, electric blue or mean green. We would have been happy with a pair of gloves, a belt, a necklace or even a lipstick showing the sunny side.

Trends ss2010: new basics

You could consider a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt as everlasting basics. However, even basics change a little bit every year.

A few seasons ago some slim fit pants were indispensable. For next summer a pair of wide-legged beige pants, a straightforward skirt, a loose-fitting jacket and a long cardigan are the season’s must haves. We saw many of these items at Stella McCartney’s show.

What’s so great about these clothes? You can easily mix them with the rest of your wardrobe. Especially the beige pants can go well with almost every color. The jackets and cardigans can be worn in a masculine way but with a waistbelt they will look very ladylike. We could see this combination in many shows.

The MaxMara, Chloé and Tommy Hilfiger fashion shows all had some great basics with which you can make endless variations.

Tess van Daelen

Next Page »