CLARE WAIGHT KELLER was a surprise signing at Chloe – Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo and Hannah MacGibbon made it girlishly, then boyishly sexy and they could almost do no wrong. When Paolo Melim Andersson stepped in for two seasons between Phoebe and Hannah in 2007 we could hardly hide our disapproval – but when, after persistent rumours, Hannah quietly stepped down and former Pringle creative director Waight Keller moved in earlier this year, we weren’t sure what to make of it.
What she did with it today in the Tuileries tent was cleverly unassuming (having the roof taken off the tent first to let in some much needed air was just plain clever) – she knows she has a tricky audience to please and so she quietly reminded us of the softness of the house by way of languid drop-waisted dresses in pleats of green, blue, dusty red and orange with touches of rich coral and burgundy. The first look – a tan chiffon dress which fanned in pleats down from the slashed neckline to flash white inside each pleat as the model walked, caught our attention and suggested that there may be something to see here, after all.
Crisp white collarless blouses with long shirt tails worn under translucent chiffon dresses, leather skirts whose pleats were separated with matching chiffon, innocent white cotton dresses with geometric cotton rivets striped up and down them and wide blue washed silk trousers worn with linen shirts – there were some nice ideas that, while they didn’t slam their way into fashion headlines, showed potential for Waight Keller to make something of this role.
A black silk blouse with diaphanous white sleeves, darker pink and purple orchids embroidered onto fluid shorts, and blazers cut to hang over anything else in your wardrobe with a touch of boyish cool revealed a little more direction, but in the main this was a commercially sound, safe beginning that will act as a clean slate for Chloe to develop into something new.
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