Chloé, women’s wear. Balenciaga brings the atelier into everyday life
Rumours are rife of changes at the creative helm of the two brands. Rick Owens’s brutalist glamour was also on the catwalk, whilst Schiaparelli is reinventing itself by focusing on design
Whereas they used to be momentous yet sporadic turning points – opportunities for genuine generational change – ‘sliding doors’ have now become a permanent feature of the fashion system, and of the, all things considered, thoughtless way in which brands treat their creative talent: as interchangeable pawns, or worse still, as hyper-productive machines denied the time and the redeeming opportunity to make mistakes.
Rumours that Chemena Kamali is leaving Chloé have been circulating for some time. She is rumoured to be heading to Saint-Laurent. It’s fashion gossip, and it would be foolish to let it influence you, but the show can be interpreted, if you wish, in both ways: it is as much a farewell recap as it is an audition.
All the tropes – and all the faces – of Chloé’s recent history are there, but there is also an erotic tension and a closeness to the body that draw the eye in that other direction. Be that as it may, Chemena has a gift for creating clothes that women like, that flatter them, and that they desire. Her interpretation of Chloé, fuelled by constant and passionate explorations of the archive, perhaps suffers from academic zeal, but it has brought renewed attention to the brand. Amidst billowing whites, crochet and fishing-inspired outerwear, the collection is as effortless as it is polished; it satisfies whilst demanding immediate renewal, lest one slip into the vintage trap.
Pierpaolo Piccioli, of Balenciaga, is also rumoured to be leaving. The marriage between his lofty vision and the brand – which, in the collective imagination, has been forever shaped by Demna – has not worked out so far. This season, Piccioli is starting with technique, grounding his creative exploration in the atelier, seen as a laboratory of possibilities.
