Chloe Attitudes

Chloe Attitudes is a sign that some dreams do come true. I dreamed this book. I craved it. I longed for it. For several years I was secretly praying that somebody will publish a book about Chloe. A proper book. The one with stories and photographs. Something to be enjoyed and cherished forever. Something to learn from.

And then, back in October, as I was doing my regular amazon check, I saw it. On the day Chloe: Attitudes was released. I couldn’t believe my eyes and, with my hands shaking, ordered a copy. I think I stopped breathing for a moment.

Chloe, as a brand, agrees with me. The shapes, the colours, the peony and rose scent of the perfume. Even the name – I love the sound of it, the way it looks when written down… I think it’s one of the most beautiful names that ever existed.

If I could, I would buy something from Chloe every season. For now, I have to be creative and indulge my love and imagination through the written word, beautiful dreamy imagery and an occasional pair of shoes (for Chloe footwear is so comfortable!) and See by Chloe pieces.

Indeed, Chloe Attitudes is a joy for somebody like me. As soon as I read the first sentences of the foreword by Gaby Aghion, it resonated deeply and made me smile.

“I don’t show myself much. I don’t like publicity. I never had my photo taken, and I told myself, “I exist: people will find me.” I don’t explain anything. I lived the life I wanted.” Isn’t it just marvellous how every word and every sentence open up, unfold before our eyes like a beautiful rose?

And then come the wonderful stories written by Sarah Mower covering every designer who worked for Chloe including Gaby herself, Karl Lagerfeld, Martine Sitbon, Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Hannah MacGibbon and Clare Waight Keller, each injecting their ideas into the brand creating beautiful designs that bring joy, a feeling of love, freedom, air, freshness, youth and life.

By Gaby’s own admission, Chloe was very avant garde from the start, moving away from ultra feminine and beautiful, but over-the-top expensive couture into more wearable and affordable clothes that still had style and personality – something you notice when browsing the array of images filling the book to the brim. While each “era” was inspired by the time those garments were made in, those dresses had an impalpable feel of timelessness about them as if each designer could, in a way, see the future and dress a woman who dares to look into it, breaking the rules of gravity and going against, as Cecil Beaton once put it, “play-it-safers”…