Chemena Kamali - Designer, Creative Director of Chloé

[JohannesL]

Presedential candidate Kamala Harris wearing custom Chloe suit.

I think she needs a strong ”muse” and maybe 1 to 2 very strong ambassadors who are going to really embody the brand to the public. A lot of the new creative directors are missing that. Maximilian, Sabato… Hawkings was missing it. They need someone that you will associate with the brand, but not a cheap celeb or model grab, it needs to be authentic. When I say authentic I mean like a Jennifer Connelly and Nicholas type partnership, Tom ford and Jon Kortajarena wtc.

The suit is not that different from those she usually wear, and it is more generic than the Tiffany necklace she wear when asking for donations.

 

[Drusilla_]

I don't think Hedi's go-to look is like the Chloé boho look at all, and this should be obvious to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the 90s-00s Chloé heyday of Stella and Phoebe, or anyone who came after them. Sorry but some of you need to go look up those collections on firstview or getty images before making pronouncements like that.

 

[Lola701]

But Chemena’s Chloe is very Karl coded.
I think the collection is directly inspired by some 1977 collection, right?

I hope her Chloe evolves to another part of Karl’s Chloe that was about colors, shapes and things like that. Karl’s Chloe had many phases. I think only Paolo Melun Anderson tapped into that.

But nevertheless, what Chemena did was necessary after Gabriela Hearst. It was important to go back to the core language of the house.

And for once, we are talking about clothes again. For quite some time, Chloe was about sustainability…

^my apologies, I confused you with the comment at the top of the page which I did quote and was insisting Chemena's stuff was no different from Zara.

I still think the claim that some fast fashion is on par with luxury fashion quality wise is false, unless you're confining that 'some' to mean things like canvas sneakers, jelly sandals, t shirts, underwear and socks - not the kind of elaborate lace, leather and acres of long sheer ruffled silk on display in this collection. Of course the quality in both has gone down the drain in tangible ways, but the overall decline is less precipitous in high-end fashion than in fast fashion brands which are now producing things that look like rags within a single wear or in-store when they're still on the rails.

I actually think that a lot of people who are claiming that the quality of designers clothes has decreased, didn’t have access to designer clothes in the first place, when it was « better ».

What is true is that the level of quality is not the same and the barometer for high quality has changed.

In reality, today the mass has access to better quality than before. The way people consume fashion as a mass has changed but let’s be real about it, people who grew up in big families, middle class didn’t have the level of quality of current Zara for example.

And before there was that huge capitalist move of producing in Asia in the 90’s, people had a real trust in brands and those brands, that produced with quality, weren’t cheap.

Also there was a real difference between « fashion » and « clothes ». When someone ordered a piece from JCrew, La Redoute or Les 3 Suisses, it wasn’t about fashion. There were brands more about fashion, that were about the trickled down effect of what was showed on the runway and they made compromises in terms of quality sometimes.

When you buy vintage, you realize that designers clothes had a different level of quality but also, technology has allowed clothes to be a better experience today than before. That’s why when people complain about polyester, it’s laughable because every polyester is not the same. The same way that every cashmere or cotton is not the same.

What has also changed is how casual fashion has become. 15 years ago, people didn’t went to designers for jeans, tshirts and sweatshirts. So it has blurred the general perception.

 

[Creative]

honestly the argument is still valid since the quality of designer items has gone down as well since that time. But ofcourse no one can say that fast fashion quality has improved. Only thing they improved are their campaigns but quality definitely is worst.

Actually, the difference between a Chloé garment and one from a fast fashion retailer is abysmal, especially because it’s a brand that doesn’t use plastic and all the leather comes from certified tanneries, the silk is organic, etc. You can’t produce cheap garments that are not an ecological disaster and in this precise case, there’s a huge difference. For other brands it might not be the case.

 

[Creative]

I actually think it’s very strange that Kamala is wearing Chloé, maybe it’s because it is the only BCorp fashion brand? Still, makes no sense to me and I don’t like fashion brands dressing politicians.