Chloé has selected Chemena Kamali as its next creative director, WWD has learned.
An alumna of Saint Laurent — who also worked at Chloé under both Phoebe Philo and Clare Waight Keller earlier in her career — Kamali is the latest in a string of female designers to helm the Paris-based fashion house.
Kamali is also the latest second-in-command talent to seize a top creative role in recent weeks.
In fact, both she and Sean McGirr, who recently succeeded Sarah Burton as creative director of Alexander McQueen, studied at Central Saint Martins under the late Louise Wilson, the hard-driving professor who mentored and shaped the careers of designers including Christopher Kane, Roksanda Ilinčić and Mary Katrantzou.
Kamali succeeds Gabriela Hearst at Chloé and is to unveil a pre-fall collection next January, followed by a runway debut for fall 2024 during Paris Fashion Week a month later.
“My heart has always been Chloé’s. It has been since I stepped through its doors more than 20 years ago,” Kamali said in a statement shared first with WWD. “Returning feels natural and very personal. I am extremely honored to be taking on this role and to be building on the vision that Gaby Aghion and Karl Lagerfeld defined early in the maison’s history. I hope to capture the emotional connection and spirit of Chloé for today.”
Born in Germany in 1981, Kamali studied fashion design at the Trier University of Applied Sciences and then graduated from Central Saint Martins, a constituent college of the University of the Arts in London, in 2007, beginning her career at Chloé as part of Philo’s team.
She rejoined Chloé in 2013 as design director under Waight Keller until 2016, when she departed to become Saint Laurent’s women’s ready-to-wear design director under Anthony Vaccarello.
Her résumé also includes stints at Alberta Ferretti and Strenesse. She recently consulted for Los Angeles-based contemporary brand Frame.
Riccardo Bellini, president and chief executive officer at Chloé, said Kamali’s “extraordinary creative talent, extensive experience and unique connection with the brand’s legacy and values make her a natural choice for the maison.”
He added that her vision, “inspired by her love for the brand, will truly celebrate Chloé’s unique DNA.”
“Chloé is an important and much-loved part of Richemont,” commented Philippe Fortunato, CEO of the group’s fashion and accessories division. “Chemena Kamali’s return is an exciting new chapter for the maison given her passion for the brand’s heritage and her strong connection to Chloé.”
WWD broke the news on June 5 that Chloé and Hearst would wind up their three-year collaboration. The designer samba danced off the Chloé stage on Sept. 28 with an exuberant spring 2024 collection that married her own South American ranching heritage with the house’s romantic French touch.
With her formidable eco credentials and long affection for the Chloé brand, Hearst seemed like an ideal designer for the house, which shifted to a purpose-driven business model shortly after Bellini’s arrival in 2019.
The designer, who hails from Uruguay, seemed to relish the role, upping Chloé’s shoe game by designing the low-impact Nama sneaker, and introducing a host of recycled and upcycled fabrics into her ready-to-wear collections.
In October 2021, Chloé became the first European luxury maison to receive B Corp status, a major stepping stone on its long path to fully becoming a company that is purpose-driven, planet-friendly, community-based and accountable.
But it understood it was a challenge for Hearst to balance the demands of two burgeoning fashion businesses based in Paris and New York.
During a joint interview last February, Hearst and Bellini reported that revenues at Chloé gained 60 percent in the two years after the designer took up the creative helm, with recycled denim and linen Woody tote bags among items selling briskly — and all leaving a small environmental footprint.
Founded in 1952 by Aghion and controlled by Swiss luxury group Richemont since its formation in 1988, Chloé is seen as one of the key French fashion brands founded in the postwar period, alongside Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior.
Chloé has been designed by a rotating cast of design talents including Lagerfeld, Philo, Waight Keller, Martine Sitbon, Stella McCartney, Paulo Melim Andersson, Hannah MacGibbon and Natacha Ramsay-Levi.
In recent years, marquee fashion brands have often shied away from recruiting famous designers, preferring to headhunt prominent number-twos, or promoting from within, which was the case with Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta, who succeed Daniel Lee, himself a second-in-command talent from Celine, and Virginie Viard at Chanel following the 2019 death of Lagerfeld.
