WITH her last show for the French house of Chloé, the English designer and the brand’s creative director of six years Clare Waight Keller left on a high note with everyone praising the collection and alluding to Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as the main reference.
The influence could be seen in the psychedelic prints which also brought to mind 1960s and ‘70s fashion supported by short hemlines of the dresses and fur and patent leather short coats. Or wonderful patterns outlining a world with fantastic plants and mushrooms on sheer blouses or frilled dresses with slips worn underneath.
Sleeves of mini-dresses, whether in floral lace or sheer with stars scattered on them, and tops were puffy and collars were either in a butterfly shape or big round and lacy, sometimes they were replaced by pussy bows. They recalled school uniforms and reinforced the idea of Alice’s childish innocence in the show. A red velvet dress with a heart-shaped cut out on the chest, looking slightly disconnected to the rest of the collection, also conjured that image of childhood.
Predominantly it was a very girly collection but in order to keep the fans of the Chloé tracksuits and menswear influence happy, Waight Keller injected some sportiness and menswear chic into the collection. Hence, a brown oversized suede and leather tracksuit appeared on the catwalk along with slouchy wide trousers sitting low on the hips and paired with either a mismatching blazer, a figure-hugging matching shirt or a patterned soft mohair intarsia knit.
The show closed with a dress covered with a print of ink blue starry sky with two faces observing it. Perhaps this was Waight Keller’s metaphor of her own gazing. Also far, but instead of space into the future which both for her and Chloé holds many changes.
by Sara Hesikova
Images courtesy of Karla Otto