The French fashion house Chloe has appointed a new creative director following Gabriela Hearst’s decision to step down after three years at the helm. The label has named Central Saint Martin’s graduate Chemena Kamali as her successor. The 41-year-old from Dusseldorf will unveil her first pre-collection for the brand in January 2024, followed by a full runway debut during Paris Fashion Week in February. Kamali’s appointment is a full-circle moment; she began her career at Chloe, working as part of Phoebe Philo’s team before rejoining the house in 2013 as design director under Clare Waight Keller. She most recently worked at Saint Laurent as a women’s ready-to-wear design director under Anthony Vaccarello.
Kamali’s first collections at the helm of Chloe will be a chance to see her signature romantic and easy-to-wear styles in action. She is expected to continue the house’s commitment to sustainability and responsible sourcing. The brand recently received B Corp status, a rigorous certification that defines the company as “purpose-driven, planet-friendly and community-based.”
She is also expected to bring a new sense of freedom to the collection, which was often heavily influenced by Hearst’s South American ranching heritage and her love of lace. Hearst also upped the brand’s shoe game with low-impact Nama sneakers and introduced a range of recycled and upcycled fabrics, including cotton and wool, to the ready-to-wear lineup.
Kamali, who studied on the fashion MA course at Central Saint Martin’s under Louise Wilson, will join a long list of celebrated female designers to have headed up Chloe in recent decades. The house was founded by Gaby Aghion in 1952 and has been owned by Swiss luxury goods company Richemont since 1988. Aghion pioneered a more free-spirited style than her peers in Paris haute couture, and the house remains known for its light-hearted, feminine, and easy-to-wear garments.
The appointment of Kamali comes days after Sean McGirr’s announcement as Sarah Burton’s successor at Alexander McQueen, another Kering-owned house. Both appointments are the latest trend for fashion brands to eschew splashier names in favor of relatively unknown and highly experienced designers. The move also comes when industry insiders are renewing urgent questions about why, despite being a business that is mainly for and about women, so few female designers hold top positions at fashion houses.
The move by Chloe follows a series of other recent creative director appointments, including Sabato De Sarno at Gucci, François-Henri Pinault’s hiring of Marcella Giordano at Celine, and the selection of Kim Jones as designer for Dior Men. These moves come as many people question why top positions at the world’s most prominent fashion houses are filled with mostly white men.
Kamali will debut her first Chloe collection during Paris Fashion Week in February 2024, with a pre-collection to follow in January and a whole runway show for the fall/winter season in March of the same year.
