Chloé has confirmed that creative director Clare Waight Keller is to leave the brand after six years. The womenswear collection she presents in Paris on 2 March will be her last.
During her time at Chloé, Waight Keller demonstrated a knack for combining the house’s signature louche, hippy aesthetic with trend-based pieces. She was responsible for a string of hits including the infamous £1,125 tracksuit that helped take the trend for luxe tracksuit bottoms to the next level – even if many of the trend’s fans bought theirs from a rather more affordable source, such as Adidas.
Rumours about Waight Keller’s departure had been swirling for weeks. A successor has yet to be officially named, but Natacha Ramsay-Levi, righthand woman to Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton, is rumoured to be in the frame. When rumours of Waight Keller’s move were first reported this month, Reuters suggested that the former Pringle of Scotland creative director was leaving the brand because her commute from London to Paris had become unmanageable.
The news comes as fashion endures a remarkable period of flux, with the top roles at many of the big houses – including Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Dior, Gucci and Calvin Klein – all changing hands over the past few years.
“Clare has been a remarkable partner at Chloé over the past six years,” Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye, Chloé’s president, told the Business of Fashion website. “She helped rejuvenate the legacy of Gaby Aghion, the first ever Chloé girl, by infusing a cool and easy breeze into the Chloé wardrobe, effortlessly mixing graceful and feminine ‘flou’ with a free-wheeling and boyish take on tailoring.”
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