For Chemena Kamali, becoming Chloé’s creative director is a return to her fashion roots. But who is the newly minted creative director of the French luxury fashion house who is following in Gabriela Hearst’s footsteps?
The name Kamali was probably not immediately familiar to most people before her appointment on Monday, but the 41-year-old from Düsseldorf has been working behind the scenes at various renowned fashion houses for more than 20 years.
The choice of designers like Kamali, who has so far mostly demonstrated her skills in silence, is currently becoming increasingly attractive in fashion. In recent years, major luxury fashion brands – with the exception of Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton – have increasingly seemed to shy away from hiring established designers. Rather, the tactic of paving the way into the spotlight for talent from our own ranks or promising design directors from other brands is currently proving successful, as is the case with Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta, Sabato De Sarno at Gucci or Peter Hawkings at Tom Ford, among others case was. Seán McGirr is another recent example of a new addition alongside Kamali. Sarah Burton’s recently appointed successor as Alexander McQueen’s creative director has so far mostly only acted behind the scenes.
From Trier, via London to Paris
Both Kamali and McGirr studied at the London fashion school Central Saint Martins under the late Professor Louise Wilson, a driving force and mentor to many English fashion designers, such as Alexander McQueen and Phoebe Philo.
However, Kamali’s fashion journey began in Germany, more precisely when she studied fashion design at Trier University, according to the industry magazine Women’s Wear Daily. This was followed by an initial and obviously formative time at Chloé under the then creative director Philo, who was at the helm of the French fashion house from 2001 to 2006, before Kamali completed her master’s degree in fashion design at Central Saint Martens with honors in 2007. Over the years, positions at luxury fashion brands Alberta Ferretti and Strenesse followed, before returning to Chloé for the first time in 2013 – this time as design director during Clare Waight Keller’s time as creative director.
It is unclear exactly when Kamali left Chloé for the second time, but it was the German designer who, together with designer Lucio Finale, replaced the then creative director Alber Elbaz for the fall/winter 2016 collection at the luxury fashion house Lanvin. Shortly afterwards, she joined Saint Laurent and worked there as Women’s Ready to Wear Design Director alongside the then newly minted Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello. At the beginning of the year, the designer moved to Los Angeles to support the denim brand Frame as a creative consultant for the fall/winter 2023 collection.
Now the German designer is back in Paris, and that’s not all that surprising, as Kamali was already, at least according to rumors, the first choice for the role of creative director at Chloé before Hearst’s official departure. Since July, reports from the industry magazine Business of Fashion have been circulating about a parallel design studio run by Kamali at the French luxury brand, although it was still unclear at the time whether this actually indicated Hearst’s departure. For the designated creative director, however, her return seems to be both a matter of course and an absolute matter of the heart. “My heart has always belonged to Chloé,” Kamali said in a statement on Monday. “Since I walked through the doors more than 20 years ago. The return feels natural and very personal.”
Chloé continues to champion the voice of women in the industry
Kamalis’ appointment not only joins the current preferred choice of hidden talent, but also adds to the ever-growing debate about the fashion industry being dominated by male designers, especially given the history that they mostly create ready-to-wear collections for Design ladies.
Although the design studios of industry giants such as Chanel and Dior are currently headed by women such as Virginie Viard and Maria Grazia Chiuri, the field of female creative directors is noticeably thin on the ground. It is therefore hardly surprising that McGirr’s appointment as Sarah Burton’s successor at Alexander McQueen sparked a heated debate in the fashion industry, as he now holds all top creative positions at McQueen’s parent company Kering, which also includes Gucci, Givenchy and Saint Laurent, occupied by white men.
In contrast, Chloé has been run by women since its inception – with a few but more famous exceptions such as Karl Lagerfeld – since it was founded by Gaby Aghion in 1952. These women, including Aghion, Philo, Hearst, Keller and Stella McCartney, will be celebrated in the Jewish Museum of New York’s exhibition “Mood of the Moment: Gaby Aghion and the House of Chloé,” which opens October 13 .
The fashion industry will have to wait a little longer to get a first glimpse of Kamali’s vision for Chloé. Her first pre-fall collection will be presented in January, before a runway debut for Fall/Winter 2024 will follow in February. However, Chloé CEO Riccardo Bellini is already optimistic: “Chemena’s vision, inspired by her love for the brand, will truly celebrate Chloé’s unique DNA. Chemena is both the creative director of Chloé and the embodiment of the spirit of Chloé.”