Fashion

Creative Director Clare Waight Keller Is Out At Chloé

By Donovan | January 30, 2017 0 Comments

Chloé Spring 2017 Ready-To-Wear.

After six years, creative director Clare Waight Keller is exiting Chloé.

The British designer will make her exit after showing the brand’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection in the City of Lights during Paris Fashion Week on March 2.

Chloé plans to celebrate the designer, with an after-party on the evening of her last show.

Waight Keller, an alum of Pringle of Scotland and Gucci, joined Chloé in 2011 and was hired by CEO Geoffroy De La Bourdonnaye. She rejuvenated the house’s ready-to-wear and accessories business and winning largely positive reviews for her collections. Waight Keller followed in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo, who all designed for Chloé.

“Clare has been a remarkable partner at Chloé over the past six years. She helped rejuvenate the legacy of Gaby Aghion, the first ever Chloé girl, by infusing a cool and easy breeze into the Chloé wardrobe, effortlessly mixing graceful and feminine ‘flou’ with a free-wheeling and boyish take on tailoring,” Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye said in a statement.

“Clare has a unique talent in directing a large studio of strong creatives. I would like to personally thank Clare for her loyalty and dedication to Chloé,” he added.

“After six extraordinary years at Chloé, I would like to thank Geoffroy and all my colleagues for their enormous efforts over the past years,” the designer said. “Working for this Maison has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Chloé is a brand with values close to my heart and I have truly enjoyed working with some of the best talents in the industry. I feel privileged to have worked for a Maison with such a heritage and I am very proud of all that has been achieved.”

Waight Keller served as senior women’s designer at Gucci during the time Tom Ford was creative director, and has also worked at Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. She spent six years at Pringle before moving to Paris to helm Chloé, where she succeeded Hannah MacGibbon.

Last December, WWD first reported that “Chloé had held discussions with Natacha Ramsay-Levi, a key associate of Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton“. Since then, it was speculated that Chloé would not renew Waight Keller‘s contract, which officially expires on March 31.

“It is understood Ramsay-Levi remains under contract at Vuitton at least through the next Paris Fashion Week, scheduled for Feb. 28 to March 8“.

“Ramsay-Levi started her fashion career at Balenciaga in 2002 and rose through the design ranks to become Ghesquière’s top design deputy. When the Frenchman exited Balenciaga in 2013, she went on to consult for several brands, including Hermès and Acne Studios, before rejoining Ghesquière at Vuitton,” according to a Paris source.