Today's face of Chloe

Clare Waight Keller becomes the first creative director of the venerable French fashion house to visit China, as the label opens a flagship store in Beijing. Chen Jie reports.

A cat has nine lives, and the French fashion house Chloe has even more, having been home to many designers including Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney. But in its 62-year history, current creative director Clare Waight Keller just became the first Chloe designer to visit China.

To celebrate the opening of its flagship store at Beijing's Shin Kong Place, Keller and Chloe CEO Geoffroy de La Bourdonnaye brought a runway show of the 2015 spring/summer collection and the Chinese edition of the company's chronicle book Chloe: Attitudes.

Leading Chinese models Sui Xiaowen, Xi Mengyao, You Tianyi, Chen Bige and others displayed Keller's design for the next season. Popular actresses Gao Yuanyuan, Wang Luodan and Zhang Xinyi also became charming "Chloe girls" watching the show in the front row.

"Sui walked in a Chloe show in Paris but it's the first time we use all Chinese models in a show. It's interesting to see so many Chinese Chloe girls in a night," says Keller.

Together with Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, Chloe is seen as one of the key French fashion brands founded after World War II.

When Gaby Aghion, an Egyptian-born woman arrived in Paris right after the war, French fashion was dominated by the refined femininity of Dior's New Look: wasp waists, full skirts and soft shoulders. But Aghion had a different kind of elegance in mind, one that was no less luxurious but lighter and more free-spirited. She also thought fashion should be more accessible.

In 1952, Aghion founded Chloe in the name of her good friend Chloe Huymans and invented pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear), a new option for women as they increasingly entered the work force.

Under the insightful Aghion, Chloe became a cradle for many young and talented designers including Carl Lagerfeld, who worked for the house for 25 years beginning in 1964. In recent years, a series of British women held the design reins: Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Hannah MacGibbon and Keller, who joined in June 2011.

All those impressively beautiful moments, talented designers and touching backstage stories are chronicled in the 200-page book Chloe: Attitude, featuring photos, illustrations and newspaper clippings. The English version was released in 2013 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the house.

"It's a window through which you can see how the brand has developed in the last 60 years," says Keller.

Chloe is famous for chiffon layers, gossamer silk blouses, and long, fluid skirts. Keller understands the core of the house identity, but has her own ideas to contribute something fresh.

"Chloe is all about lightness of touch, gently transmitted sexiness and seemingly effortless ease. I would maintain the tradition, the softness and fluidity, while imposing a sense of modernity. I want to capture that feeling for today - the feminine side with the boyish side," says the 43-year-old designer, who showed up after the Beijing show in a denim shirt.

With a Master of Arts in fashion knitwear from the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom, the Birmingham-born designer has established herself as a talent able to combine craft with modern shapes. She has worked at Gucci under Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and headed the luxury knitwear brand Pringle of Scotland before joining Chloe.

She says because Chloe has had so many designers through the years, it has been an evolving brand. But that's actually one of its strengths - that a new spirit comes through with each new person.

"What's more, there's a constant thread coming from Aghion Gaby, who just passed away at 93 in September. What she really instilled from the beginning was that she wanted to dress women for their everyday lives. My favorite quote of hers is: 'I lived the life I wanted.' She instilled that idea in her brand and in the clothes, and I think that's something that each designer who's been here has tried to achieve for their era. And that's what I'm trying to do now."

Keller believes that today's young women are less about being iconic and more about being a real person. "That's so much about what the Chloe spirit is. I sometimes like to call it a 'sister' style. It's more personal."

"This free-spirit style is also what Chinese young women are demanding," De La Bourdonnaye, the label's CEO, says.

"Chloe girls are from Paris but now they are everywhere, including China. In the offices and high-end shopping malls, I see women who are sophisticated, well-educated and demanding style and quality. They don't need big-logo luxury bags but like unique, stylish things to enhance their personality. They all could be Chloe girls."

The CEO says that China is one of the fastest-growing markets, though the biggest markets are still Japan, France and the United States. After opening the Beijing boutique in November, Chloe opened one more store at the Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu in December. It's Chloe's 10th store on the mainland.

De La Bourdonnaye notes that, to enhance personal relationships with customers, the Chloe team in China is entirely Chinese. It's not the usual case for a European company, but he thinks it's good for business. The company also has launched a WeChat app to promote the brand among the young generation.

He also admits that because of the government's anti-corruption campaign, the sales of bags declined last year but its ready-to-wear still sells very well.

"Because women choose Chloe for themselves - not as gifts," he says.

Contact the writer at chenjie@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 01/09/2015 page14)