Boho is back – and we have one woman to thank

We can all agree that fashion has had a predilection for the 2000s for some time, having cycled through all of its best – and worst – hits. With the exception of one trend: boho. But now, some 20 years on since the suede, ethereal frills, floaty handkerchief hemlines and festival dressing that Sienna Miller made famous infiltrated our wardrobes, it’s back – finally.

It’s all thanks to Chemena Kamali (and not TikTok for a change), the newly-installed creative director of the French fashion house Chloé, founded by Gaby Aghion in 1952, which appointed her to the top position in October 2023.

Having spent stints at the house under three of its significant designers – Phoebe Philo (2001-2006), Hannah MacGibbon (2008-2011) and Clare Waight Keller (2011 to 2017) – Kamali was well placed to take on the job. And in interviews, she has shared that Chloé was the place she wanted to work.

That dream came true in full for the Central Saint Martins MA graduate and former Saint Laurent design director when, as its creative director, she presented her debut Chloé collection at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year.

With none other than Sienna Miller sitting front row in a lace-trimmed skirt and clompy platform Chloé wedges, it was as though it was 2004 all over again – a heyday for the brand, gladiator belts, soft and romantic dressing, all promising to infiltrate our wardrobes once more.

Chloé was founded by Gaby Aghion, an Egyptian born in Paris, distinguished by a free-spirited, feminine aesthetic. This identity would continue to be upheld by Karl Lagerfeld when he joined the house in 1963. He was there until 1983 and then again from 1992 to 1997, in a move not unlike Kamali’s own rejoining of the brand; this is actually her third time at Chloé, having first stepped through the doors 20 years ago.

In her show notes, Kamali said, “I want to return to the original roots of the house and build a sensual Chloé that radiates with warmth and positivity. This collection goes back to the late 1970s era of the house that I feel so connected to. A time that was about a natural kind of femininity – sensual, effortlessly powerful, and free.”

On the catwalk this translated as: lace capes, poncho shapes, befrilled 1970s dresses and kaftans, fringing, thigh-grazing slouchy boots, superb plaid coats, flowing trapeze shapes; and waists encircled in Chloé-slogan belts – archive hits, reinvented.

“I want to play with contrasting proportions in the silhouette, in an intuitive way,” continued Kamali. “To embrace and capture the Chloé woman’s essence, and all the contradictions she embodies.”

Suki Waterhouse made a case for boho chic 2.0 when she stepped out in the ‘dress of her dreams’ in elegant tumbles of peachy-pink ruffles for a performance supporting Taylor Swift on her Eras tour.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris proved that new Chloé is also a perfectly acceptable sartorial choice for delivering important political speeches. The US Vice President wore a custom-made Chloé suit in tan, and a white crepe de chine blouse at the Democratic National Convention.

Another notable member of the style cult of Chloé is actor Daisy Edgar Jones, who was photographed wearing a number of new-season looks from the fashion house earlier this summer – including that ruffle-adorned runway dress, the banana-handle bag and a pair of kitten-heel clogs. It's all thanks to stylist Dani Michelle, who understands all too well the currency of new Chloé.

It’s sexier this time, with a little more attitude added to the house’s signature playful and pretty femininity, while still drawing on modern Chloé favourites, such as the pastel palette, short shorts and billowing blouses with a solid dash of LA style thrown in, a bit of Stevie Nicks.

And it feels entirely fresh after seasons – years – of boxy shoulders, ‘90s minimalism and all the other Y2K reference points that have been thrown at us of late. After ironic dressing, pandemic loungewear and, generally, an increased presence of the digital world, boho has a renewed tactile edge, beauty and authenticity.

“This collection is about intuition, freedom and an instinctive female energy,” said Kamali. “It’s about a Chloé with a sense of nostalgia that also mirrors the times we are living in and anticipates how women want to feel today. It’s about what feels right.”

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