Where does a brand’s identity come from? An iconic logo or color, an instantly recognizable silhouette, or perhaps the masterpieces created over the course of a long history. All of these help shape a brand. But what if its identity is also formed by something far more personal—the accumulation of things one simply loves, in ways that words cannot fully explain?
Courtesy of Chloé
For Chloé Summer 2027, “THE OBSESSION COLLECTION,” Creative Director Chemena Kamali turns inward, exploring the obsessions she herself has long held for Chloé.
“This collection also started purely from instinct,” Kamali explains. Returning to the deeply personal question of what draws her in, what she loves, and the emotions those things evoke became the starting point for the collection.
There are certain things that immediately come to mind when we think of Chloé: airy dresses, delicate lace and embroidery, soft clothes that reveal glimpses of skin, and a vision of femininity that is both romantic and free. Yet if those elements were simply repeated, “Chloé-ness” could eventually become a prescribed formula.
What Kamali wanted to explore were “Chloé archetypes, not stereotypes.”
Courtesy of Chloé
One point of departure is the robes de jeunes filles—“young girls’ dresses”—found in the Maison’s early history. Drawing on memories of the broderie anglaise that often appeared on these dresses, Kamali looked to threadwork found in 19th-century archives, translating it across materials ranging from the lightest organza to crisp, weightier cotton.
Courtesy of Chloé
The white embroidery and lace certainly evoke the Chloé romanticism we know. But Kamali is not looking toward a finished image of what Chloé “should” be. Instead, she goes further back—to the forms, techniques, and emotions from which that image first emerged.
Courtesy of Chloé
That contradiction appears throughout Summer 2027. Delicate lace meets boldly open necklines. Airy white and pale-yellow dresses reveal the body with an almost weightless ease. Elsewhere, a deeply cut black dress combines romantic ornamentation with strength.
Decorative, yet light. Romantic, yet strong. Revealing the body without reducing it to vulnerability.
Courtesy of Chloé
Silhouettes were also often constructed from the neckline outward: sweetheart, boat, square, and V-neck. Some consciously evoke the Maison’s history, while others are forms that have long fascinated Kamali herself. Both coexist within the collection.
Kamali’s obsessions are not limited to romantic dresses. Outerwear is another recurring fascination.
Working from 1970s silhouettes, she draws inspiration from fishermen’s coats, capes, and sou’wester hats, layering them with smoky transparent vinyl inspired by 1950s rainwear to create graphic, sharply defined silhouettes.
Courtesy of Chloé
Glossy black and translucent outerwear present an entirely different expression from the white lace and embroidered dresses. Yet for Kamali, this too is Chloé.
She describes the tailored 1972 “Noel” suit from the archives as something she will “love forever.” Taking its scalloped-edge tuxedo as a starting point, she revisits another essential element of Chloé’s heritage: the image of a woman in menswear tailoring.
And then there is another obsession: lingerie.
Courtesy of Chloé
Lace cut from delicate lingerie becomes a romantic harness tracing the body—graphic in form, yet creating the impression of wearing almost nothing at all.
Dresses, outerwear, tailoring, lingerie.
What connects these different categories and eras is not a systematic chronology, but the emotion of being drawn to something again and again.
Looking into an archive does not necessarily mean reproducing the past. Why is this particular garment impossible to forget? Why does this embroidery continue to fascinate? Why does one want to see this silhouette again?
Courtesy of Chloé
In “THE OBSESSION COLLECTION,” Kamali is tracing not so much the history of Chloé itself as the memories of Chloé that have continued to live within her. This is why white broderie anglaise, black rainwear, menswear tailoring, and lingerie do not need to be flattened into a single prescribed idea of “Chloé-ness.” Each has its own expression, yet each is something she finds herself drawn to again and again.
Courtesy of Chloé
Perhaps the essence of a brand is not one perfected style, but the accumulation, over time, of all those things that continue to inspire love. Of this collection, Kamali writes that she was “guided by my love for Chloé.” She closes with the words:
Forever Chloé.
Love,
Chemena
The things we cannot help but love, again and again. Beyond those obsessions lies the heart and soul of Chloé.
Chemena Kamali | Courtesy of Chloé
Courtesy of ChloéFor Chloé Summer 2027, “THE OBSESSION COLLECTION,” Creative Director Chemena Kamali turns inward, exploring the obsessions she herself has long held for Chloé.
“This collection also started purely from instinct,” Kamali explains. Returning to the deeply personal question of what draws her in, what she loves, and the emotions those things evoke became the starting point for the collection.
“Archetypes,” Not “Stereotypes”
There are certain things that immediately come to mind when we think of Chloé: airy dresses, delicate lace and embroidery, soft clothes that reveal glimpses of skin, and a vision of femininity that is both romantic and free. Yet if those elements were simply repeated, “Chloé-ness” could eventually become a prescribed formula.
What Kamali wanted to explore were “Chloé archetypes, not stereotypes.”
Courtesy of ChloéOne point of departure is the robes de jeunes filles—“young girls’ dresses”—found in the Maison’s early history. Drawing on memories of the broderie anglaise that often appeared on these dresses, Kamali looked to threadwork found in 19th-century archives, translating it across materials ranging from the lightest organza to crisp, weightier cotton.
Courtesy of ChloéThe white embroidery and lace certainly evoke the Chloé romanticism we know. But Kamali is not looking toward a finished image of what Chloé “should” be. Instead, she goes further back—to the forms, techniques, and emotions from which that image first emerged.
Complex Yet Light: The Chloé Paradox
Another of Kamali’s fascinations is the dimensional floral embroidery found in Chloé designs from the 1960s. Created with savoir-faire comparable to couture, it produces depth, texture, and complexity while allowing the clothes to remain light and youthful. Kamali sees in this what she describes as a distinctly Chloé contradiction.Courtesy of ChloéThat contradiction appears throughout Summer 2027. Delicate lace meets boldly open necklines. Airy white and pale-yellow dresses reveal the body with an almost weightless ease. Elsewhere, a deeply cut black dress combines romantic ornamentation with strength.
Decorative, yet light. Romantic, yet strong. Revealing the body without reducing it to vulnerability.
Courtesy of ChloéSilhouettes were also often constructed from the neckline outward: sweetheart, boat, square, and V-neck. Some consciously evoke the Maison’s history, while others are forms that have long fascinated Kamali herself. Both coexist within the collection.
From Rainwear to Lingerie
Kamali’s obsessions are not limited to romantic dresses. Outerwear is another recurring fascination.
Working from 1970s silhouettes, she draws inspiration from fishermen’s coats, capes, and sou’wester hats, layering them with smoky transparent vinyl inspired by 1950s rainwear to create graphic, sharply defined silhouettes.
Courtesy of ChloéGlossy black and translucent outerwear present an entirely different expression from the white lace and embroidered dresses. Yet for Kamali, this too is Chloé.
She describes the tailored 1972 “Noel” suit from the archives as something she will “love forever.” Taking its scalloped-edge tuxedo as a starting point, she revisits another essential element of Chloé’s heritage: the image of a woman in menswear tailoring.
And then there is another obsession: lingerie.
Courtesy of ChloéLace cut from delicate lingerie becomes a romantic harness tracing the body—graphic in form, yet creating the impression of wearing almost nothing at all.
Dresses, outerwear, tailoring, lingerie.
What connects these different categories and eras is not a systematic chronology, but the emotion of being drawn to something again and again.
Following What You Love to the Heart of the Maison
Looking into an archive does not necessarily mean reproducing the past. Why is this particular garment impossible to forget? Why does this embroidery continue to fascinate? Why does one want to see this silhouette again?
Courtesy of ChloéIn “THE OBSESSION COLLECTION,” Kamali is tracing not so much the history of Chloé itself as the memories of Chloé that have continued to live within her. This is why white broderie anglaise, black rainwear, menswear tailoring, and lingerie do not need to be flattened into a single prescribed idea of “Chloé-ness.” Each has its own expression, yet each is something she finds herself drawn to again and again.
Courtesy of ChloéPerhaps the essence of a brand is not one perfected style, but the accumulation, over time, of all those things that continue to inspire love. Of this collection, Kamali writes that she was “guided by my love for Chloé.” She closes with the words:
Forever Chloé.
Love,
Chemena
The things we cannot help but love, again and again. Beyond those obsessions lies the heart and soul of Chloé.
Chemena Kamali | Courtesy of Chloé
