After the last post on my desires to promenade through Paris, it seems only appropriate to write on one of the major French fashion houses... By name: Chloé
Conceptualized by the Egyptian born Gaby Aghion in 1952, and with Jacques Lenoir joining in 1953 to manage the business side of things, Chloé found favour amongst the crème de la crème of Paris. Aghion's notion of luxury prêt-à-porter (luxury ready to wear) challenged the strict, full-skirted attire of the era, thus making it particularly popular amongst chic young women.
The brand propelled the careers of many young designers into the spotlight, including Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfield, the latter beginning by working under Aghion, designing a few pieces each season, and going on to actually become head designer in 1973. Around this time, the brand began gaining iconic status. Lagerfield was doing something different with the brand and it garnered headlines for offering something "high fashion and high camp".
The novel idea of luxury prêt-à-porter as opposed to the haute couture of the time, in conjunction with the weird and wonderful mind of Lagerfield gave Chloé firm foundations for being the global brand that it has become. The brand, taken at the helm, by some of the biggest names in the industry, for example, the aforementioned Lagerfield and McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Hannah MacGibbon and a few others continues to dominate the fashion world, with collections being branched into 5 major areas; ready-to-wear, accessories, fragrance, children's wear, 'see by Chloé'. 2012 marked Chloé's 60th anniversary and they marked it with attitude... Hosted at Le Palais de Tokyo, the show entitled 'attitudes' was the very first exhibition dedicated to Chloé. The spectacle for 60 was playfully interpreted to reflect the spirit of Chloé, just making me curious as to what and how they will reflect upon this when the brand inevitably meets the century mark.