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Chloe is a French luxury fashion design house headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1952 by French-Egyptian creator Gaby Aghion, the house produces women's pret-a-porter, accessories, and fragrances.
Prior to Chloe's launch, in 1952, luxury fashion houses had only ever produced Couture or Haute Couture (i.e. made-to-measure) clothing. This was fine for the few who could afford it, but it left everyone else in, usually poorly made, copies, supplied by the local seamstress.
Chloe's creator, Gaby Aghion, rejecting the stiff formality of 1950s fashion (and sensing a gap in the market), decided to create a line of off the rack, high quality, soft, body conscious clothes from fine fabrics, which she called 'luxury pret-a-porter' and thus, the Pret-a-Porter (Ready-To-Wear) market we know today, was born.
Chloe has employed several of contemporary fashion's most influential designers in the past 40 years. Karl Lagerfeld, who currently serves as creative director for Fendi and Chanel, served two stints as top designer for the house. From 1971 to 1983, Lagerfeld forged a feminine image for Chloe that perseveres today. His 1972 Deco collection won him wide acclaim and elevated the house, as well as the designer, to international fame. He departed for Chanel in 1983 but returned in 1992 to replace outgoing designer Martine Sitbon,[2] who brought a more modern look to Chloe during her tenure.
In 1997, young British designer Stella McCartney took the helm of the fashion house, succeeding Lagerfeld in one of the industry's highest-profile positions. Having graduated from London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design only two years earlier, McCartney's eponymous collection was already popular among London's fashion scene. This did not silence critics who maintained that McCartney received the position only because of her celebrity parents, ex-Beatle Paul and Linda McCartney, and that the appointment was simply a publicity stunt on the part of Chloe's owners, the Vendome.
McCartney's first collection for Chloe was shown in Paris in October 1997. The collection included signature pieces such as lace camisoles and petticoat skirts that recalled the feminine image submitted by her predecessor. Her ready-to-wear designs elevated Chloe's profile to new heights in the late 1990s. McCartney, an avid animal-rights activist, refused to work with fur and leather during her tenure at the house.
McCartney announced her departure from Chloe in early 2001, naming 27-year-old Phoebe Philo as her successor. The move left most in the fashion industry baffled, as Philo was a relative unknown. She had attended Central St. Martins a year behind McCartney and worked under her for only four years, but did not have the credentials typical of designers at any other major house. Planted firmly at the intersection of casual street chic and whimsical femininity, Philo's first collection forged an image that the company calls "luxurious, romantic and quintessentially French." Philo also created several "it bags" during her time at Chloe, including the Paddington bag, which became a smash hit in 2004 and spawned many knockoffs. On January 6, 2006, Philo announced that she was stepping down as creative director for the fashion house in order to spend more time with her young daughter.
Chloe announced in October 2006 that Paulo Melim Andersson, a Swede who worked for Marni for seven years, would take over as creative director. “His mission is to find the new direction for the Chloe brand,” Chloe chairman and chief executive Ralph Toledano told WWD. "He will be given, like his predecessors, a lot of freedom to find his own way."
There is a somewhat cheaper sister brand 'diffusion line' called See by Chloe.
By 2007, the company had United States locations on Madison Avenue in New York City, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA, Bal Harbour, FL, and Tumon, Guam. Future locations have been noted to be Boston, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Honolulu, Palm Beach, and Chicago.
Chloe offers a great selection of pumps, wedges and platforms for the latest fashions in shoes and footwear. Find open toe platforms, black patent leather platforms, leather platform wedge sandals and many other great Chloe fashions.