MODELS peppered around the bustling streets of Paris convened on the esplanade of the Palais de Tokyo on Thursday for Natacha Ramsay-Levi’s SS21 collection for Chloé.
Broadcast live on three enormous plasma screens, the show, entitled A Season In Hope, was, as one would expect, an optimistic reflection on the possibilities of the future.
Since joining as creative director in 2017, Levi has established a thoughtfully feminine bohemian style at the French fashion house, further evolving this season with a mix of relaxed tailoring and dresses silk-screened with “visual poetry” by the late artist and social justice advocate, Corita Kent.
Kent’s colourful Pop Art serigraphs appeared printed, knitted and woven onto cotton tunics and camp shirts in dusty shades, dressed up or down with straight-leg trousers and pleated shorts in stonewashed gabardine.
Soft floral appliqué bloomed across pleated crèpe midis and camisoles, while topstitched sack shirts, tablier frocks and cosy summer knits were juxtaposed with contrasting broderie Anglaise and ruffled detailing, each look elevated with gold bracelets, earrings, pendants and laced leather sandal boots.
Punctuating hobo and moulded clutch bags, the new Chloé Kiss motif was sculpted into gilded hardware and featured alongside the label’s new Hailey handbag, crafted from calfskin.
The power of community is, in our pandemic-struck world, more crucial than ever to our global survival. Expertly-timed and expertly-executed, Chloé’s SS21 offering mirrored this global context through the female gaze in a triumphant celebration of hope and intimacy that embraces “the possibilities of women and the power unlocked by their vital communion.”
by Joshua Hendren