Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Evolution: Chloé

Between Spring '06 and Spring '09, Chloé was run by three different designers. The rise and fall—and rise, of Chloé, lends itself no doubt an interesting story of brand evolution.


Below are notable looks from Chloé's Spring '06, Fall '06, and Spring '10 collections, designed by Phoebe Philo, interim designers, and its current head Hannah McGibbon, respectively. Not pictured are the three collections designed between Fall '07 and Fall '08 by former house designer Paulo Melim Andersson. Andersson was let go from the house after exhibiting an inability to merge his harder aesthetic with Chloé's women-friendly cult status which had been established by Philo.


photos courtesy of style.com

In this past collection, it appears that McGibbon has delivered Chloé back to its signature aesthetic—chic, Parisian, and ultrafeminine. Although the Fall '06 collection doesn't appear so distinctly Chloé, with its uncharacteristic heaviness, between its unique (albeit not exactly flattering) shapes and hodgepodge styles there still exist several items to covet.

Chloé is the designer to watch at Fashion Week in terms of brand evolution. It will be a spectacle to see how the house continues to evolve in light of its recent changes.

8 comments:

Diana Wong said...

Just found your site via TFS... Hope to be reading more posts!

Kowie said...

i remember i actually liked Paolo Melim harder aesthetic.

Marie Montage said...

Thanks for the comments!

I don't find Andersson's designs offputting (in fact, I quite liked what he did with Fall '07) - I simply don't feel that they were appropriate for Chloé. He had a very strong point of view, which is perhaps in part why it didn't work out.

Unknown said...

I just love Chloe' and I'm totally digging the floaty fabrics of those last two dresses. Genius.

- Anna Jane xxx
(PixelatedBlonde.com)

Lucy Laucht said...

Hey there, great site, I'm looking forward to reading more!

Thanks for the comment, it's nice to know someone out there is reading what you post!

Lucy


http://www.lucylaucht.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I love Chloé!
thanks for passing by my blog!

Chloé A. said...

hey,
glad to have given a bit of inspiration:)

you have a great blog!I love Chloé so much thank you for the post!

Love,
C.

Erik said...

I actually used to love Chloe. Now, though, it's become so boring. Paolo had some very cool designs, my favorite collections out of Chloe's history, and I also really loved Phoebe Philo's collections. Hannah, however, is really boring for me.