You know the type, the kind of French girl who wears cheesecloth and gladiator sandals and has lovely hair and is all "he-he-he" with her musical laugh, and "tra-la-la" with her talk. And did I mention she has lovely hair? There is a reason that film is called Slap Her, She's French. And yet, despite the Chloé girl today having so many of those elements in abundance—I have absolutely no idea about the laughter and the accent, mind you, but the hair today was indeed lovely—in this collection, somehow, you did not want to slap her. You might have even wanted to be her.
What could have turned out to be hippie-dippie-boho nonsense in other hands was a resounding success for Clare Waight Keller, the creative director of Chloé. There was something no-nonsense about the Spring collection: pretty yet precise, elegant but not excessive, practical rather than pouty. There were simply great silhouettes that spoke for themselves and concentrated on their proportions—styling was stripped-back, clean, chic, and worked to emphasize the quality of the collection, as did the spot-on casting of the models.
As Waight Keller herself put it: "The starting point was fabrics that tell stories, particularly 'folkloric' textiles like the encrusted birds in cheesecloth, but I wanted honest, direct shapes. I liked the idea of denim, that it can be used raw or washed and it becomes personal to the wearer—it is immediate and honest. I wanted to have an idea of workwear as well as the flou, which was about volume and expanded from that densely packed fabric, crepon georgette. I wanted that one amazing shape that just hung off thin spaghetti straps."
The designer has always looked slightly more at home with the Fall collection, but that tougher and rougher attitude supplanted last Spring's style and worked very well. So tailoring was made in lace or was ring-pierced, there were denim-washed knits like the standout voluminous hoodie and precise powdered suedes, while a workwear element ran through much of the collection, balancing out anything too "wafty" or what might once have appeared cloyingly winsome. Even the sandals were not the usual fare, but slightly wedged and beautifully done.
Yesterday Gaby Aghion, who founded Chloé in 1952, passed away. This collection was dedicated to her. You can't help but think she would have been pleased with it.
