November 23, 2011 |
CHLOE: There’s a changing of the guard at Chloé. In truth, though, the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Hannah MacGibbon is celebrating her 10th year at the house, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary next year. Now that is one hell of a birthday. We should know. The mother, on her 12th 38th birthday, spent a whole year going through plastic surgery brochures and drawing on herself with a black marker pen, but we digress. Change is good, keeps things fresh. Clare Waight Keller has been named as Hannah’s successor, so while we wait with bated breath to see what direction the talented one goes in, we’ll take a moment to celebrate the golden-haired one’s reign as designer in chief.
SPRING 2009
The return to “the glory days”. Chloé, you see, works best with a lady at the helm, and since the departure of the Philo that had been lacking. Scalloped hems and seaming in lemon yellow may seem a tad too girlish, but when it’s executed on a masculine blazer it looks attitude-y. The Chloé girl is back.
AUTUMN 2009
The Chloé girl signature look is set. Loose-fitting shorts, rolled up. Worn with an over-the-knee boot. Always. Unless it’s summer, in which case a stocking might work. The originator of the It bag sets its sights on the shoe, too. Those flat crystal-bowed mary-janes are the stuff of urban legend.
SPRING 2010
Why can’t American Gigolo inspirational cues be taken from Richard Gere instead of Lauren Hutton? Roomy, unstructured jackets, loose trousers. All in a symphony of beige – who knew it had so many shades? Well, women always did look better than men in men’s clothing.
AUTUMN 2010
The Chloé girl grows up and gets glossy. From her hair to her satin trousers. She’s got that kind of Jerry Hall/thoroughbred-pony thing about her. You can see it in the way she walks. It’s like a canter. She ain’t cheap.
SPRING 2011
The one we called Dirty Dancing. All that was missing was Baby doing a running leap into a model’s arms. Everything, from the tight leotard tops, to the sheer plissé skirts and delicate golden heels, was spot-on dancer attire. Dancing used to be a classy pastime before Strictly. Not just content with reinventing mere clothes, that Hannah.
AUTUMN 2011
Colour and python. Proving all those who harped on about her being a beige one-trick pony wrong. She’s more than happy to flip the image she’s cultivated on its head and inject a bit of the unexpected. Well, if you’re planning on bidding adieu you might as well do it on a high, which this most certainly was.
by Natalie Dembinska
