Chloe's Ease And Confidence Shines In Their Spring 2019 Campaign
Paris, France was the land of couture when Gaby Aghion and her childhood sweetheart moved to la Ville des Lumières (the city of lights) in 1945. On the scene where budding fashion designers Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, Jacques Fath, and Pierre Balmain. The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture had established rules for fashion houses to earn couture house status and Dior, was transforming the French fashion landscape with his “New Look”. Nearly all of the fashion worn at the time was made to measure, but Aghion had other ideas. Seven years after her arrival in Paris the Alexandria, Egypt born designer launched Chloé, one of the first luxury ready-to-wear fashion houses. Veering from her peers' business models, Chloé built its foundation on clothes for clothing racks in department store floors. Luxe fabrics, relaxed silhouettes, the t-shirt dresses (named Embrum) and silk separates required little to no alterations and were a hit among women. The brands carefree style maintained after Aghion designing departure in 1959 with Gérard Pipart (1959 to 1963); Karl Lagerfeld (1964 to 1983 and 1992 to 1997); Martine Sitbon (1987 to 1992); Stella McCartney (1997 to 2001); Phoebe Philo (2001 to 2006); Paulo Melim Andersson (2006 to 2008); Hannah MacGibbon (2008 to 2011); Clare Waight Keller (2011 to 2017) and Natacha Ramsay-Levi who sits at the helm of The Maison now succeeding her.
Ramsay-Levi honed her skills as a designer under the guidance of Nicolas Ghesquière, spending 11 years with him at Balenciaga and then following him to Louis Vuitton. Her appointment at Chloé was her first outing as the head designer in charge. “I am very proud to be part of a house founded by a woman to dress women. I want to create fashion that enhances the personality of the woman who wears it, fashion that creates a character and an attitude, without ever imposing a ‘look,’” she mentions on Chloé's official website. Her first runway showing for the Parisian fashion house was their Spring 2018 collection. Python skirts, stallion embroidered suiting and festive, friendly ruffled florals introduced Natacha's Chloé to the world; Vogue Runway's Director Nicole Phelps called the showing, "a super-confident debut." That confidence extends into the brands Spring 2019 Ad Campaign. Shot by Steven Meisel, four models including Imaan Hammam sport the scarf prints and statement earrings in a Mediterranian inspired setting that graced the runway back in 2018. See more of the campaign below and a full video is coming soon —January 21st according to Vogue UK.
