BRAND DIVE: THE CHLOE STORY
Chloé has always done femininity differently: softer, smarter, and a little bit undone. In a fashion landscape often obsessed with loud statements and high drama, Chloe presents a softer kind of power. The sort of luxury that wafts in looking carefree and gorgeous in a lace-trimmed silk midi dress with tousled hair and a perfectly worn-in boot.
Chloé was founded by Egyptian-born, Paris-based designer Gaby Aghion in 1952 Paris, pioneering luxury ready-to-wear at a time when couture’s strict rules still governed the fashion world. The unconventional house offered a fresh alternative: relaxed glamour, bohemian style and clothes that women could move, travel and work in freely. It was elegant, feminine and free-spirited without the formal structure of 1950’s couture.
More than seventy years later, Chloe has defined a unique fashion DNA. This is an unbridled quiet luxury. Boho-adjacent but more refined. Romance that doesn’t make you feel queasy. Over the decades, successive designers have absorbed and translated it into something distinctly Chloé with signature ease, intelligence and undone cool-girl chic.
The Birth of Luxury Ready-to-Wear
CHLOE SS 1989
At a time where luxury fashion was defined by big couture players like Dior and Balenciaga, everything was painstakingly made to measure, which Aghion didn’t like.
Aghion had a rebellious vision for fashion which was free, bohemian, simple and wearable. It was the era of the jet-setter and she designed clothing for intelligent, carefree women who travelled the world. She wanted them to be able to pick a dress off the rail after breakfast and be on a flight to Capri by noon. She transformed women’s wardrobes by trailblazing the ready-to-wear category – we have Aghion to thank for our pay-day lunchbreak shopping trips.
Her laid-back and bohemian formula was defined by fluid shapes, light fabrics and romantic details. All the things we still expect of Chloe. Like now, the house’s relaxed and youthful vibe attracted the globe-trotting socialites, artists and Hollywood stars of the time. Before Sienna Miller and Bella Hadid, there was Brigitte Bardot and Grace Kelly. At Chloe, beautiful people could access beautiful but wearable clothes. Clothes to live in, not just look at.
This is the Chloe identity. From the beginning, Aghion approached fashion as a lifestyle. The Chloe woman didn’t need rules and sharp shoulders to prove her status. She was free to dress, drift, think, flirt, work and travel however she wanted. She could disappear for the weekend on a whim and come back with better stories than everyone else.
A House Shaped by Women, and a Few Visionary Men
Chloe’s history isn’t a straight line. It’s more like a moodboard with shades of romance, rebellion and minimalism before it’s back to full bohemian bloom. What keeps it consistent is the house’s dedication to freedom, femininity through clothes that make you feel alive.
Romanticism, Fantasy and Fluidity
KARL LAGERFELD FOR CHLOE
We’re at the Karl Lagerfeld years. Brought in by Aghion, the iconic designer made Chloe an international fashion name. He expanded the brand’s dream world with even more romantic dresses, folk inspirations, fluid lines and literary references. Think less “outfit” and more “woman escaping a glamorous novel”.
Lagerfeld brought fantasy without fuss. Dresses were flowy and fabrics moved. Everything had a story. We have Lagerfeld to thank for Chloe’s dreamy romanticism. His soft-focus ideal has defined the house and still appears in every collection, from silk crêpe de chine gowns to ruffles, lace and capes.
The Cool-Girl Reset
STELLA MCCARTNEY FOR CHLOE SPRING 1999
Then came the late 90s, and with it, Stella McCartney. Fashion was changing. The supermodel era had shifted into a more irreverent, youthful and street-aware gaze. McCartney arrived with famous friends, a famous surname and an understanding of what young women actually wanted to wear. Which turned out to be pineapple prints, horse-emblazoned dresses and chain-link strappy tops.
Her Chloe era was playful, slinky and cool. She put a fresh spin on the house’s romantic codes with off-duty and vintage rock-and-roll inspired style. Think low-slung trousers, denim and delicate tops. A cheeky femininity and a vision of the Chloe girl arriving at a party fashionably late with a toss of her tousled hair and a wink. Fan of the brand Kate Moss and the London cool-girl set gave McCartney’s Chloé instant cultural heat.
This was the moment Chloe became a must-have brand for fashion insiders everywhere.
The It-Girl era
CHLOE SPRING 2005 PHEOBE PHILO
Phoebe Philo harnessed icon energy in the early 2000s. It was free-spirited and sun-drenched with a side of precise but feminine tailoring. And it was about to go viral (before viral was a ‘thing’). Cue the It-bag era and Philo’s Paddington bag with its instantly-recognisable padlock. It gained immediate cult-status.
The Paddington captured the essence of early 2000s fashion excess: oversized hardware, waiting lists, paparazzi shots and celeb mania. It turned Chloe into a global accessories powerhouse and was an essential element of the iconic It-girl wardrobe from Sienna Miller and Mischa Barton to Nicky Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.
Philo’s Chloe had charm, but it also had strategy. The house was no longer just selling romance. It was representing an entire lifestyle.
Understated Refinement
HANNAH MACGIBBON CHLOE SS 2011
HANNAH MACGIBBON CHLOE SS 2010
Hannah MacGibbon turned the volume down on the earlier noughties excess with a quieter and more minimal vision for Chloe. After the high-energy years, the brand softened into something more refined and composed. The silhouettes were cleaner and the palette muted. The tone shifted from flashy bohemia to elegant understatement.
MacGibbon showed how flexible the house could be while staying true to its roots. Sure, it could do ruffles and romance, but it could also do a camel coat, a clean trouser, a creamy blouse and a wardrobe that was more softly sophisticated than whimsical. It was a transitional era that aligned Chloe with the quiet luxury aesthetic.
Modern Romance Goes Global
LARE WAIGHT KELLER, CHLOE SS 2017
Clare Waight Keller’s arrival at Chloe marked the start of an era of polish and modern romance. Her collections balanced softness with structure: clean tailoring, airy dresses, refined outerwear and grown-up elegance. There was a sleek Chloe office look that morphed into ‘70s-inspired tulle dresses with serious volume. Think billowy blouses, sheer fabrics, raw-edged silk and pretty feather-light dresses.
Waight Keller famously designed Meghan Markle’s iconic off-the-shoulder 2018 Givenchy wedding dress that everyone still talks about. This famous fashion moment may have come after her time at Chloe, but Waight Keller’s aesthetic of modernity, elegance and restrained femininity was established during her years at the house.
For Chloe, Waight Keller’s legacy is clean romanticism. She combined femininity with discipline and softness with structure, her vision for the brand still lingers today.
The Intellectual Edge
CHLOE SS 2021 NATACHA RAMSAY-LEVI
It’s cool to be clever. Natacha Ramsay-Levi gave Chloe a sharper, more cerebral twist that refocused on founder Aghion’s belief in intellectual freedom. Having worked closely with Nicolas Ghesquiere at Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga, she brought structure, proportion and conceptual layering to her collections. The Chloe girl got a bit tougher and more angular. She was thoughtful and fiercely independent. The type to read a paperback on the train while wearing heavy tread boots and booking a solo trip to the Atlas Mountains.
Her collections played with tailoring, hardware and graphic lines. They had an urban attitude but the feminine codes stayed intact. She didn’t erase Chloe’s softness but complicated it. Under Ramsay-Levi, Chloe femininity became less floaty and more self-possessed. Dare we say it – a bit more serious.
Sustainable Luxury
Let’s take a moment for Gabriela Hearst’s Chloe. She successfully reflected fashion’s shifting values by injecting her passion for sustainability into the brand. Under Hearst, Chloé made history as the first luxury fashion house in Europe to become a B-Corp. We all know luxury is no longer just about beauty and status, it’s about longevity, ethics, materials and accountability. Under Hearst, Chloe met the highest standards for social and environmental performance. This was modern luxury fashion with modern values.
Hearst’s tenure was peak quiet luxury. These were pared-back clothes with meaning. Timeless pieces made to last from sustainable materials. They could be worn on rotation and never feel outdated. Her shows frequently featured upcycled and recycled materials, and she continues her mission to make fashion more sustainable at her own eponymous label today. To quote Hearst herself “we're not perfect but we're freaking trying”. Amen to that.
The Boho Revival, Reclaimed
Cue the 00s boho revival. But there’s more to it than what meets the eye. In 2023, Chloe entered a new chapter under creative director Chemena Kamali. Her debut for AW24 marked a return to the house’s free-spirited heart: chiffon, ruffles, fringing, thigh-high boots, romantic blouses and the kind of floaty, 70s-inspired femininity that instantly feels Chloe. Basically, we have Kamali to thank for the resurrection of bohemian style. Thank the fashion gods for the 1970s Chloe Lagerfeld references and front-row presence from Sienna Miller, the high priestess of 2000s bohemian chic.
But this is not boho as costume. Kamali’s Chloe is more refined, warm and sexy. It’s looks at nostalgia through a lens rather than drowning in it. For years fashion has felt pretty hard and shiny, so Chloe’s softness under Kamali feels radical again.
Defining the Chloe Girl
KATE MOSS, NAOMI CAMPBELL AND STELLA MCCARTNEY
The Chloe aesthetic is multifaceted, just like the women who wear it. It’s feminine and bohemian. Laid-back but polished. Sexy but demure. A Chloé girl looks like she threw on her outfit and left the house without thinking twice. She’s an off-duty socialite with a beach club booking at 2 and cocktails at 8. She’s too fun, effortless and busy to think hard about her ‘look’. But it’s a trick. The undone-ness is considered. The dress slips off her shoulder just so. The boots give a silk dress some edge. The bag slouches at the perfect angle.
Compared with other Parisian fashion houses, Chloe is more relaxed. Less rigid than Saint Laurent. Less formal than Dior. Less conceptual than Loewe. Chloe is about ease, not effort. It doesn’t dress women like trophies, muses or mysteries to be solved. It dresses them like people with taste, opinions and somewhere better to be.
Bags, Boots and Bottles
CHLOE STREET STYLE
For all its runway romance, it’s Chloe’s accessories that are often most coveted. The Paddington bag is the big one: the early 2000s It-bag with its oversized padlock and chunky proportions is as famous as the A-listers who wear it. Re-released for AW25 it’s lighter and softer but still slouchy and irresistible. Like all the best It-bags, it’s a storied design with some serious cultural cache. Since the noughties, we’ve kept the bags and giant sunglasses but swapped the Starbucks frappes for matcha lattes and tabloid press for Tiktok.
After the Paddington came sleeker bags like the Drew and Faye. The Drew, with a curved saddle shape and polished hardware, offered a neater, more feminine take on the Chloe bag. In 2015 The Faye, with its ring-and-chain detail, was an instant hit that spawned a million high street copies. Less shouty than logomania, more distinctive than minimalism. True Chloe style.
Once a Chloe boot has made its way into your wardrobe and heart, it will never leave. The cult favourite Susanna boot, with its studs and buckles, captured the brand’s paradoxical nature perfectly: boho with bite. The Rylee boot brought a Western-inspired attitude to the house. Both prove that Chloe’s delicacy is never too sweet. There is always a buckle, stud or heel nearby to add a touch of rebellion to the look.
Chloe’s perfumes bottle the same ideas as the clothes. They’re light, feminine, fun and romantic. The OG Chloe fragrance launched in 1975 under Karl Lagerfeld with fresh and floral feminine notes. Since then, the brand has formulated other iconic scents that smell like youth and sunshine. The Chloe eau de Parfum reimagines a classic rose perfume for the modern Chloe cool-girl, while Nomade combines floral and woody notes to reflect the house’s adventurous free spirit.
Chloe and culture
SIENNA MILLER IN CHLOE
Chloe’s pop-culture influence is subtle, but everywhere. It isn’t the loudest brand on the red carpet. It doesn’t care if it goes viral. Instead, it works through association: the right woman, the right dress, the right slightly windswept and romantic fashion moment.
Sienna Miller is key to the Chloe myth. In the 2000s, her layered, vintage-inspired, boho style helped define an entire fashion moment. Low-slung belts, floaty dresses, boots, waistcoats and undone hair. The look became shorthand for carefree and cool.
Kate Moss brought a different kind of energy: less romantic, more attitude. The supermodel was the original cool girl and embodied the rock and roll side of Chloe with her festival looks (served with paper cups, cigs and VIP access), high fashion connections and party girl reputation.
The recent boho revival has seen everyone reach for the nearest floaty dress. Whether it’s Bella Hadid in a sheer Chloe slip dress or Timothee Chalamet demonstrating the brand’s unisex appeal in a custom suede jacket, the world of celebrity still agrees that Chloe is cool.
Bringing Boho back
The boho revival was inevitable. Fashion has spent years polishing itself into sleek, beige perfection. Eventually, someone was going to ask for ruffles again. But the 2020s version is sleeker than the noughties original. Less costume. Fewer unnecessary waistcoats. More silk, suede, chiffon, lace, leather and excellent boots.
Chloe is central to the revival because it has the archive to back it up. The brand’s bohemian aesthetic is not a trend grab; it is part of the house’s DNA. Lagerfeld’s romantic 1970s ideal, McCartney’s ease, Philo’s It-era and Kamali’s softness all feed into the same story.
For newer generations, the appeal is obvious. Boho offers texture and adventure after years of pared-back minimalism. It has personality without full maximalist chaos. It can be styled with denim, tailoring, boots, leather, oversized knits and vintage jewellery. It feels personal. And in an age where fashion is constantly flattened into easily packaged trends and aesthetics, Chloe offers depth.
Chloe Today
CHLOE FW 25 CHEMENA KAMALI
Chloe’s vision of fashion is intuitive, emotional, and understated. In a world of hard lines, hard launches and hard branding, Chloe shows that femininity can be powerful, and romance still has a place in our wardrobes.
Under Chemena Kamali, the house has captured fashion’s desire for warmth, ease, craft and depth and in a serious and digital world. We’re craving texture and fluidity. Clothes that you can move and breathe in. Chloe’s return to boho is a not about dressing like a 2005 paparazzi photo or mimicking the festival-going supermodels of the noughties. It’s a breath of fresh air dressed up in soft linen and silk georgette carrying your favourite bag. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
