Chemena Kamali goes deeper into what makes Chloé feel like Chloé in Paris this season. Rather than looking outward, Kamali turns inward, following her own obsessions with the house’s history, archetypes and emotional memories attached to them. The result is perhaps the most personal Chloé collection yet for Kamali: romantic without feeling precious and sensual without losing even a smidgen of ease.
Since returning to the house in 2023, Kamali has been steadily rebuilding a particular Chloé vocabulary. Her debut Fall/Winter 2024 collection re-established the house’s instinctive femininity through floating dresses, lingerie references, fur and the kind of undone glamour associated with Chloé’s most beloved eras. Subsequent collections have expanded that language without abandon, and this season feels like a deeper dive into that same idea.
Kamali describes the starting point as an exploration of Chloé “archetypes, never stereotypes,” looking back to the robes de jeunes filles of the maison’s early years and their intricate broderie anglaise. Nineteenth-century threadwork is translated across everything from weightless organza to crisp cotton, while three-dimensional floral embroideries recall the exuberant craft of 1960s Chloé (read: richly textured but never overworked.)
There is a particularly satisfying tension between delicacy and structure throughout the collection. Heart-shaped, bateau, square and V-necklines anchor the silhouettes, while 1970s-inspired fishermen’s coats, capes and sou’wester hats offer a thoughtful utilitarian edge. Transparent smoky vinyl is layered over outerwear pieces introducing a graphic modernity, transforming familiar Chloé romanticism into something sharper.
The archive also surfaces in more specific ways. A scalloped-edge tuxedo from 1972 becomes a starting point for tailoring, revisiting the image of a woman in menswear that has long been part of the Chloé story. Lingerie is treated with a similar sense of transformation: lace is sliced away and reconfigured into barely-there harnesses, leaving behind traces of the house’s sensual core.
That balance between recognition and reinvention is where Kamali’s Chloé has become most compelling. She understands that the house does not need to be reconstructed to feel authentic. The codes are emotional as much as visual: softness, freedom, sensuality, a certain insouciance and the confidence to let clothes move freely with the women wearing them.
For a collection titled “Obsession,” the most interesting part is that Kamali’s fixation never feels restrictive. Instead, it gives her permission to follow instinct, revisit the things she loves and scour the Chloé archive for something new. This is not nostalgia for its own sake but rather Kamali looking at Chloé through her own deeply personal lens.
Discover the collection below.
