Presented on the sunny river bank of Quai de la Tournelle, with a view to Notre-Dame, the show felt like a breeze for Hearst, who continued her fusion of Chloé’s girly bourgeoise with her own hand-spun and rootsy South American signature. During a preview of the collection, the designer gave Anders Christian Madsen a glimpse of the creative process that underpins the sustainable and charitable approach that embodies her work.
ACM: A designer’s second season at a house is always key. How did you approach yours?
GH: The first collection we did was about showcasing Gaby Aghion’s values and paying respects. Your job is to be a link in the chain to make sure that this brand, which has lived nearly 70 years, continues. The second collection had to be about what is my driving force – what pushes me – and it’s love: a love for craft.
What does that mean for the collection?
We’re launching Chloé Craft because I started to realise that this thing that we’re calling luxury fashion feels so industrialised. It looks very machine made. I think it’s important to go into a re-education of what craft looks like. So, everything that is entirely made by hand is identified by a special label. This way, people start to notice the difference; also, if it’s made from deadstock, by a non-profit, and so on. We are using so many different non-profits to make the collection that I have to study and memorise them. And I love them.
What are some examples of the non-profits’ contributions to the collection?
Akanjo in Madagascar does all the shells you see on necklaces and on the dresses, which are all embroidered from deadstock. Ocean Sole did the soles of a lot of the shoes. It’s a Kenyan-based non-profit where they recoup flipflops from the ocean and make different forms and shapes out of them, pressing them into blocks. They’re all one-of-a-kind. Mifuko in Kenya have done all the artisanal bags for us. They’re all made by women.
And the show set?
The set is made by a non-profit in France, Les Bâtisseusses, from Senegal where women are involved the making of houses. When she moved to France she started this non-profit, which employs immigrant women and allows them to get into a workforce that’s mostly male-driven.
Does using non-profits to produce all this craftsmanship make your products more expensive in-store?
Some things yes, some things no. It depends on the craft and the time. It’s a conversation we’re having now. A Chloé Craft product that’s 100 per cent made by hand would be on the higher end.
How did you design these pieces? Did you see the craftsmanship first, or the other way around?
Ocean Sole, for instance, I already knew what they made, so we designed around it. Mifuko do baskets, so you design around it. But at Akanjo, they’re so crafty they can do whatever we ask them.
Does your creative process start with material?
My way of cooking is that I pay of a lot of attention to the ingredients. They have to be interesting to me. They’re fabrics I find fascinating. It starts with a sketch, which I pass on to the team. We work on the details and approve swatches. It’s important for me to create branding through materials and details. It comes through the fabric, through the ideas, and through the sketches. And what you want to wear.
You’re not a mood board type of girl.
No, I’m a sketch type of girl. That’s my initial process. My sketches are not amazing but they give an idea. I draw it, then I tell the team, “I see this as a knit rib with ceramic buttons”. I have all these little notebooks [for sketching], which I carry in my purse. They have to be handy.
ACM: A designer’s second season at a house is always key. How did you approach yours?
GH: The first collection we did was about showcasing Gaby Aghion’s values and paying respects. Your job is to be a link in the chain to make sure that this brand, which has lived nearly 70 years, continues. The second collection had to be about what is my driving force – what pushes me – and it’s love: a love for craft.
What does that mean for the collection?
We’re launching Chloé Craft because I started to realise that this thing that we’re calling luxury fashion feels so industrialised. It looks very machine made. I think it’s important to go into a re-education of what craft looks like. So, everything that is entirely made by hand is identified by a special label. This way, people start to notice the difference; also, if it’s made from deadstock, by a non-profit, and so on. We are using so many different non-profits to make the collection that I have to study and memorise them. And I love them.
What are some examples of the non-profits’ contributions to the collection?
Akanjo in Madagascar does all the shells you see on necklaces and on the dresses, which are all embroidered from deadstock. Ocean Sole did the soles of a lot of the shoes. It’s a Kenyan-based non-profit where they recoup flipflops from the ocean and make different forms and shapes out of them, pressing them into blocks. They’re all one-of-a-kind. Mifuko in Kenya have done all the artisanal bags for us. They’re all made by women.
And the show set?
The set is made by a non-profit in France, Les Bâtisseusses, from Senegal where women are involved the making of houses. When she moved to France she started this non-profit, which employs immigrant women and allows them to get into a workforce that’s mostly male-driven.
Does using non-profits to produce all this craftsmanship make your products more expensive in-store?
Some things yes, some things no. It depends on the craft and the time. It’s a conversation we’re having now. A Chloé Craft product that’s 100 per cent made by hand would be on the higher end.
How did you design these pieces? Did you see the craftsmanship first, or the other way around?
Ocean Sole, for instance, I already knew what they made, so we designed around it. Mifuko do baskets, so you design around it. But at Akanjo, they’re so crafty they can do whatever we ask them.
Does your creative process start with material?
My way of cooking is that I pay of a lot of attention to the ingredients. They have to be interesting to me. They’re fabrics I find fascinating. It starts with a sketch, which I pass on to the team. We work on the details and approve swatches. It’s important for me to create branding through materials and details. It comes through the fabric, through the ideas, and through the sketches. And what you want to wear.
You’re not a mood board type of girl.
No, I’m a sketch type of girl. That’s my initial process. My sketches are not amazing but they give an idea. I draw it, then I tell the team, “I see this as a knit rib with ceramic buttons”. I have all these little notebooks [for sketching], which I carry in my purse. They have to be handy.
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