Exclusive first look: Chloe’s SS16 Argentinian adventure

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News faces, new photographer

Chloé takes on Argentina and comes off with a dreaming, spirited collection of colour this Spring Summer 16. Chloé's romantic, feminine cuts and colours have been transported into an Argentinian wonderland weaving delicious drapes, dropped hemlines and a myriad of tassels into a dream-like collection. 

The campaign this Spring Summer was shot in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires by American photographer Theo Wenner. "This campaign is very exciting for me because I really wanted to create a new energy for Chloé this season," says Clare Waight Keller, Chloé Creative Director. "Theo is a photographer I have worked with several times before, and I really appreciate his youthful eye and spontaneity behind the lens," she continued. "Likewise, I wanted to bring new faces to Chloé as they represent a more adventurous, free-spirited, impulsive side of the Chloégirl."

 Taking to the cobblestone streets, which were littered withtextile-printed paths wereChloé's new it girls, Céline Bouly and Ari Westphal, who have been named the faces of the brand this season. They were joined by Antonina Petkovic and Ilvie Wittek. Watch as the four friends, take to the playful paradise in a collection of signature statement dresses delicately designed in silk, leather fringed bags, tassle-finished tops energetically paired with romantic cuts and bold, bright colours.

"There was a colour and quality to the light on location, like there is dust in the air, and it made everything more vivid. These colours and textures seemed to perfectly embody the spirit of Chloé and this collection," said Wenner."Collaborating with Clare — who is brilliant and controlled and has a quiet command of every detail — in the midst of the chaos of a city, created an amazing dynamic of precision and spontaneity," he continued.

The 1990s is one of Spring’s big stories, but no one has put forward her interest in the decade more explicitly than Clare Waight Keller at Chloé.

On every seat, there was a printed note: “This season’s collection is a tribute to girls named Kate, Chloé, Cecilia, Corinne, Rosemary, Emma, and Courtney, who embody the liberty and the elegance of a perfectly mastered and excessively lived simplicity.” Backstage, the designer explained she grew up alongside that motley crew of models, photographers, and superstar performers.

For Waight Keller, they represent a freer time: “There’s such a fast pace to fashion now; I think we’ve lost the innocence of the spirit of fashion, the youthful optimism that it portrays. And I think there’s something quite joyful about fashion that’s been missing.”In keeping with that sentiment, she imbued the new collection with a playful spirit, quite literally in the case of the rave-girl tracksuit separates she started with. Athleisure is something different for Chloé, and it was most convincing when Waight Keller combined a split-hem track pant with a romantic, off-the-shoulder shirt typical of the brand. As the show progressed, it took on more of those familiar Chloé tropes—festival dresses, peasant tops, lacy little bandeaux and miniskirts—but never lost its ’90s leanings. The denim separates were oversize and frayed.

Overalls—in trouser and dress form—conjured images of raves gone by, too. There were even Hammer (as in MC) pants. All of which will likely play exceedingly well with young women who missed out on them the first time around.Waight Keller had Georgina Grenville, Cecilia Chancellor, and Angela Lindvall representing the ’90s in the front row, but what a kick it would’ve been to see them on the runway in these clothes. Youthful optimism is wasted on the young.