Chloe Taps New Designer

[fashionista-ta]

Ahh it's a cruel world!

Looking at the coming season's collection - Fall/Winter - I think PAM was just finding his feet. I know that the current cruise collection isn't flying off the rails but having spoken with a few buyers the just shown collection will be well received. The current Summer collection however while beautiful is tricky and difficult to sell.

He's no accessories designer though - the bags produced during his tenure have been heinous. And it's the bags which make the money...

I agree, the bags have suffered ... and I suspect this current collection was created under duress with his feet to the fire

 

[Royal-Galliano]

I'm disappointed in the Chloe house for not having given him more of a chance, but at the same time I'm glad because it means Paulo can go out and work on his own uncompromised vision. He is a very talented designer who has impressed me incredibly, and I am eager to see what he will do next... until then, I will miss him!!

my thoughts exactly. so sad... i really hope he will pop up somewhere anytime soon!

 

[disco54]

I thought this Chloe collection was severely lacking in comparison to the Spring 2005 season. It was very dull and bordering on boring.

Spring 2006 was a breath of fresh air compared to Fall 2005.

I have reservations about this woman. I feel like she is going to try and recreate the Philo-era Chloe and will fail miserably.

That period in Chloe's history is gone and I wish people would move on. Phoebe did what she did and it just can't be like that again. And it won't. It might have been the 'best' or the most 'true to Chloe's aesthetic' but again, it was what it was.

I dont think so , if Phoebe handpicked her , phoebe is no fool . If you think fall 2005 collection was bad , those are clothes chloe girls give an eye for . . Spring 2006 was good but it was all that baby doll crap .

 

[ohmyemily]

He was really starting to grow on my to be honest, I agree with Royal-Galliano, I hope we see him again soon.

 

[kimair]

from wwd...

A young, female designer is back in the driver's seat at Chloé.

Hannah MacGibbon — who worked under Phoebe Philo for five years and helped set the brand's winning hip-yet-girlish template — will succeed Paulo Melim Andersson as creative director.

MacGibbon, 38, is expected to show her first collection for the house during Paris Fashion Week in October for the spring 2009 season. A striking, soft-spoken blonde with a penchant for breezy dresses and statement jewelry, MacGibbon worked under Philo from 2001 to 2006. Most recently, she consulted for Chloé as creative director of its new signature perfume, launched with licensing partner Coty Prestige and landing on counters last month.

"Hannah has been an integral part of our company for many years and we look forward to the overall creative vision she will bring to the growing world of Chloé," Ralph Toledano, Chloé's chairman and chief executive officer, said Monday.

He also thanked Melim Andersson for his contribution. "Paulo is a truly talented designer," he said. "I am totally confident that he will have a very successful career."

Toledano declined further comment. Melim Andersson was not available for comment.

A Swedish national, Melim Andersson joined Chloé in October 2006 from Marni and showed three collections for the French house. He steered Chloé in an edgier, quirkier direction with offbeat colors and asymmetrical cutting, earning mixed reviews.

The chiffon tea dresses and mannish blazers he unveiled for fall earlier this month were seen as more in step with Chloé's charming ingenue ethos.

Chloé has been one of the industry's recent success stories, its sales more than doubling in 2005, fueled by Philo's knack for creating coveted handbags, footwear and clothing. For Richemont's 2006-07 fiscal year, Chloé was cited as a star performer, with sales rising more than 50 percent due to an expanded retail network.

According to sources, MacGibbon declined when asked to be considered for the top job at Chloé in 2006, when Philo resigned to spend more time with her family and her new baby, Maya. Philo gave birth to a son in June. MacGibbon — like Philo, a graduate of London fashion school Central Saint Martins — worked as an assistant director to retired Roman couturier Valentino Garavani before joining Chloé.

 

[Royal-Galliano]

she'd better be good or else

 

[rollagasper]

UGH, i was so mad when I heard this news. I really liked the way Melim Andersson brought a new perspective to Chloé. I hope the house does not go back to commercial clothes that are pretty but have no personality because it's so overdone.

my thoughts exactly. so sad... i really hope he will pop up somewhere anytime soon!

I agree. I hope to see him soon, and very soon. He is really talented.

 

[rollagasper]

she'd better be good or else

 

[JuiceMajor]

VERY sad news. I kinda like what he is doing.

 

[miwa]

Chloe's New Creative Director

I didn't see this posted anywhere

From wwd:

Chloé yesterday announced British designer, Hannah MacGibbon as its new Creative Director, taking over from Swedish designer, Paulo Melim Andersson just 9 days after he presented the Fall 2008 collection in Paris - I guess the powers that be did not like it.

Hannah is due to make her debut at Paris Fashion Week in October.

Melim Andersson began at the French label in 2006, presenting three collections with mixed reviews. The Swedish designer spent seven years at Marni prior to his appointment.

 

[Grill]

A lot of TFSers berate the fact that the Chloe style of old still permeates the fashion mainstream. - I mean just what would the french-based brands Sandro and Maje do if PMA was the future of Chloe - they'd be stuck. However, it does bear testament to the fact that the "pretty" Chloe look has a broad appeal - and is a money spinner. At the end of the day that's what counts.

I have high hopes for Hannah MacGibbon at Chloe. I was interested to learn from the WWD article that she played a key role in the launch and styling of the new Chloe fragrance. Personally, I love the perfume campaign and the choice of models, - I feel it is very much in tune with the Chloe vibe. So hopefully, Hannah will give us something we want.

PMA (and not PAM as I earlier called him (though looking at his face I think PAM suits him better) must be credited with breaking out of the peter pan collar and baby doll Chloe rut. However, innovation in design is soo not enough in this business - it's the bottom line that counts everytime - and while Phoebe's and then the design team's collections were money spinners, PMA's simply are not. Just look at what's left at sale time!

While I sort of liked the new direction being taken, possibly, the buyers and visitors to the showroom in the aftermath of the show haven't been so impressed with the collection up front. Has any one else noticed a reliance on synthetic and cheap fabrics with this season's collection and the last? Fabrics which really aren't worthy of the label nor the prices asked.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

It simply wasn't a good fit. I don't think anyone holds it against Paulo.

What he did for Marni was amazing but somehow his efforts to translate it for Chloe seemed really forced and and not nearly as desirable as Marni under his influence or the collections the Chloe team had done on their own.

According to the WWD article from this Tuesday Hannah Macgibbon was originally considered for the job but had turned it down. A few of you already mentioned but she should have taken over from the beginning, I agree

Personally I'm sad Yvan Mispleare is no longer there as his talents are being wasted at Gucci.

I wonder where Paulo will head to now? I must say these few collections he did don't speak well for his ability to work in sync with a brand's idenity or demonstrate a level of restraint.


hmmm...
If Prada was smart they'd hire him immediately.

 

[Cosette]

I loved Paulo's contribution to Chloe. His Spring 2008 collection was the most dreamy, ethereal, and beautiful collection I've ever seen from the house, and the Fall 2007-08 was, though a bit shocking at first, a collection I completely warmed up to. I was disappointed with his latest because it was as if he was limiting his creativity to what "they" wanted. I'm not really surprised by any of this, sadly...

 

[JuiceMajor]

DID Paulo Melim Andersson play a big part while working for Marni?

 

[augustus]

Why didn't they pick Yvan Mispleare at first instead of wasting Melim Andersson? I like Andersson's work at Marni, but with Chloe, he seems way too forced. Plus, the price point makes all the difference.

But now I am worried that Andersson would not find work anywhere else...

 

[Deleted member 7575]

DID Paulo Melim Andersson play a big part while working for Marni?

I'm almost certain he did. Marni is headed by Consuelo Castiglioni who is the creative director, but she's not a designer. Paulo was the brand's senior designer. He was responsible for the actual fabrics, design details, shape, fit, and overall sensibilities. If you look at Marni Spring 07 and Chloe Fall 07 you can see a distinct vocabulary used in both shows. But if you look at Marni 07 you can see something missing.

I would sum up the feel Paulo has as being very easy, unstructured, almost as if he lets the the fabric fall, flattering unexpected parts of the body, and allows that do all the work. I think his lean towards quirk and awkwardness was amazing for Marni, a generally older women's label that has a reputation on subversively breaking the rules, but the Chloe girl doesn't break the rules, she only slightly bends them. I think this is why Paulo had such a hard time.

 

[Tinsley V]

Finally!! I am so glad - I sincerely hated all of his work for the label

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Why didn't they pick Yvan Mispleare at first instead of wasting Melim Andersson?

Yvan was given a trial season, S/S 07, which received received its share of bad reviews although it kept on the Chloe spirit in complete and utter earnest. I actually loved it and it made me question how much of Chloe was Phoebe and how much was Yvan behind the scenes.

What happened after that is unknown but I assume the company opted to choose someone else to change the brand's direction or Yvan had a better offer from Gucci, either way he left to work for Frida and they hired Paulo

 

[caliboy672180]

out of the peter pan collar and baby doll Chloe rut.

Philo really only did the baby doll as a total look one time! that collection was just the most well known and most copied.

i must say i am really excited about having a women at the helm of chloe. it just works better. PAM's vision was just too unrelenting and progressive for a house whose main goal is to appeal to women and sell out. I hope the new girl can do what Philo did so well: Keep the integrity of the brand, while putting a modern desirably spin on it. That is what PAM failed to do.

 

[rollagasper]

All this PAMming... It's P.M.A.