Team Effort Eases Chloe Upheaval
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[FONT=arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1]Sat Mar 04, 1:58 PM ET[/SIZE][/FONT]
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The news in January that British designer Phoebe Philo was leaving Chloe to spend more time with her family sent a shudder through the world of fashion.
Industry fears were temporarily laid to rest on Saturday after the in-house design team, which is standing in for Philo until her replacement is named, sent out an autumn-winter ready-to-wear collection that upheld the label's reputation for subtle femininity.
Retailers and analysts have been worried that a change of direction could break the golden streak of the French house, which has seen sales soar since Philo a former assistant to Stella McCartney rose from obscurity to take the helm of the label in 2001.
Australian model Gemma Ward opened the show in a voluminous brown wool coat with large buttons, setting the tone for a sequence of prim schoolgirl separates that included smocked tunics and pinafore dresses in muted khaki, oatmeal and gray.
There was a Calvinist austerity to these loose linen dresses and oversized dungarees that was perfectly in tune with the mood of chaste sobriety sweeping the catwalks from New York to Paris.
That does not mean next fall is all sackcloth and ashes. A belted brown cashmere coat with a drawstring hem would work well in any young woman's wardrobe, while the ample cropped jackets worn with swingy skirts would look just as good over a pair of jeans.
A rare round of applause greeted an Empire-line dress in paper-thin white leather with cutout laser patterns of large flowers. The platform shoes and oversized leather totes should keep Chloe accessories flying off store shelves.
"I think the team did an amazing job because they managed to continue something that is totally coherent with the identity of the brand," said front-row guest Nathalie Rykiel, who designs the Sonia Rykiel label with her mother.
"There was a lightness, a freshness, the shoes were amazing and there were very, very charming dresses which one wants to wear," she said.
Backstage after the show, in-house designer Yvan Mispelaere one of three who took a bow at the end of the show insisted it was business as usual, though his grin betrayed a deep sense of relief.
"We just rolled up our sleeves and that's all, there was nothing very new or difficult, we continued to do our job," he said.
Mispelaere is rumored to be among the contenders for the top job, alongside rising designer Roland Mouret, whose va-va-voom Galaxy dress has been snapped up by celebrities including Scarlett Johansson and Victoria Beckham.
Others believe that Chloe will continue the tradition of having a young woman head up the house, which this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first collection by founder Gaby Aghion.
Rykiel said that women have a more pragmatic approach to design than men, because they wear the clothes themselves, but she added that gender should not play a role in choosing a replacement. "I think that talent has no gender," she said.
(AP)
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