Under the direction of Uruguayan Gabriela Hearst, the firm is committed to layering, cashmere dresses and tailoring of textured linen garments
The Uruguayan Gabriela Hearst, creative director of the firm Chloé continues to direct the turn of the Parisian brand towards environmental solutions and, was inspired by the research of the fusion energy, fossil freefor the creation of its spring-summer collection, presented this Thursday in Paris.
Guided by researchers working on the ITER project – an ambitious network of 35 countries that is building a nuclear fusion reactor in France that would pave the way for the development of commercial power plants – the Chloé team was inspired by the architecture of this machine, the Tokamak, for their designs. This scientific entelechy translates, in fashionable terms, into a commitment to layer overlaythe cashmere dresses -low impact, depending on the brand- fabrics and the tailoring of textured linen garments.
On the catwalk, lit up with a series of luminous circles as if they were mandalas, they also saw raw silk coats closed at the front using industrial fittings; as well as knit dresses and tunics decorated with blown glass metal beads and geometric suede panels. “I’m surprised so many people don’t know about the merger. With this collection we have a clear opportunity to tell a positive story and cross audiences,” Hearst said in a statement.
The designer, who from her own homonymous brand had turned the sustainability in the focus of your creationsalso translated the architecture of the Tokamak into highly structured silhouettes, with leather dresses that hug the waist with scaffold-like seams, and biker-style jackets with curved sleeves, paired with baggy pants.
A clean white was the star color of this catwalk, in which silver tones were also seen, as well as details in fuchsia, red and black, in the minimalist line but with ethnic touches with which Hearst conquered the New York upper classes, and that Chloé is imposing on the Paris Fashion Week.
In addition to the technological references andn accessories, with shoes with metallic platforms and braided rope, the firm once again boasted of its artisanal adventures in trying to use sustainable materials: sneakers made with low-impact products, jeans made from 87% recycled cotton and hay, finishes with a laser wash to reduce water usage. But the truth is that it is difficult to understand this speech with a first look at the garments, in which the fineness of the cuts and the exquisiteness of the fabrics.
Hence, the brand is promoting a discourse in networks and stores based on these collaborations with researchers, scientistsbut also associations to try, as they themselves say, to cross information between apparently opposite audiences.
In its previous collection, that of autumn-winter 2022/2023, the ‘maison’ focused on the reimplantation of disappeared animal species and this time it was on nuclear fusion, with systems that seek recreate the process by which the energy of the sun and stars is produced.
ITER hopes to produce the first fusion plasma in 2025 and the first operations with deuterium and tritium by 2035. “What I did not expect to see when we visited ITER is that scientific passion that prompted me to give good news to everyone who would listen. The energy that moves in the universe will help us, in the not too distant future, to light up our world and solve many of the problems that affect us today,” Hearst said.