In addition to being a designer, Natacha Ramsay-Levi is, unsurprisingly, a serious consumer of fashion herself. She gets where her base is coming from. “I think what’s interesting about femininity is that it’s not just one directional. You can say everything and its opposite, maybe sneak in a hidden message,” she said during a recent visit to the Chloé showroom.
For her Pre-Fall collection, Ramsay-Levi delivered several variations of soft-meets-strong in a cast of characters that riffed freely on the ’70s and ’80s. Reiterations of the Chloé signature bow blouse mingled with directional pieces such as a crushed-velvet apron dress, intricate knits, a lace skirt, and essential Chloé archetypes—the trench, the cape, the duffle, the cable sweater, and so on.
Chloé’s horsewoman may be heading for Carnaby Street, but compellingly, many looks broke free of the usual comfort-zone, earthy tones: Those flares, for example, were back in amethyst and emerald, perhaps paired with an Edwardian shirt and a tank sweater embroidered with Chloé’s rearing steed. They also come recast in a fluid, Persian-inspired teal print that nodded to the wanderlust in Chloé’s Spring show, now paired with a carnelian cameo-print scarf blouse and a fitted, ’70s-style jacquard jacket with an archival C monogram.
Tunic dresses dallied with cropped shearling; a button-down Lurex jacquard slipped under the shell of a boxy denim jacket. And with just a few exceptions (the transparent and patchwork numbers come to mind), Ramsay-Levi kept it grounded—intellectually and sartorially—with chunky boots, most winningly in “wave”-heeled embossed croc, although the square-toe loafer style in python print will have its partisans, too.
Among other accessories, Chloé unveiled two new handbags: the roomy Aby day bag and the boxy Annie chain-link bag, which join new styles of the Chloé C-clasp bag and camouflage variations of the Tess bag. Elsewhere, the Aluminium jewelry collection expanded on an idea that started with a ring Ramsay-Levi’s 5-year-old son made for her out of aluminum foil.
The designer says she likes the idea that when you dress, you layer on information. “What goes for summer, goes for fall—the statement is there, but the message doesn’t change. It’s timeless,” she says. Come fall, Chloé fans will probably hear that loud and clear.
