Chloé Confirms Exit of Clare Waight Keller
PARIS — Clare Waight Keller will leave Chloé after showing her fall-winter collection for the Paris-based fashion house on March 2, the company said Monday.
WWD first reported on Dec. 15 that Chloé had held discussions with Natacha Ramsay-Levi, a key associate of Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton. Since then, speculation had been rife that Waight Keller would not renew her contract, which expires on March 31.
Ramsay-Levi started her fashion career at Balenciaga in 2002 and rose through the design ranks to become Ghesquière’s top design deputy. When the Frenchman exited Balenciaga in 2013, she went on to consult for several brands, including Hermès and Acne Studios, before rejoining Ghesquière at Vuitton, according to a Paris source.
Waight Keller, an alum of Pringle of Scotland and Gucci, joined Chloé in 2011 and has brought a sure and steady hand to the house, rejuvenating its ready-to-wear and accessories business and winning largely positive reviews for her collections.
Waight Keller served as senior women’s designer at Gucci during the Tom Ford era, and has also worked at Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. She spent six years at Pringle before moving to Paris to helm Chloé, where she succeeded Hannah MacGibbon.
At the time of Waight Keller’s hire, Chloé chief executive officer Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye touted her as a seasoned talent with the creative, commercial and communication skills to manage a large studio. The designer, who has three children, recently moved back to her native England for personal reasons, sources said.
A calm, soft-spoken woman with a ready smile, Waight Keller personifies the Chloé spirit with her long wavy hair and penchant for such Seventies-tinged styles as wide jeans, and smock tops, and shoulder bags.
In its interim report for the six months ended Sept. 30, parent Compagnie Financière Richemont reported “good sales growth” at Chloé, without breaking down financials for any individual brands. “After the spring 2015 collection was hailed as a turning point, this year has confirmed Chloé’s momentum,” de la Bourdonnaye wrote in the report.
“Clare Waight Keller’s collections continue to receive both critical and commercial acclaim. The ready-to-wear and bags categories performed well, the Drew bag playing a key role in the bags revival.”
Robust jewelry sales and stronger demand in Europe and Mainland China helped Compagnie Financière Richemont outstrip analysts’ projections and post a 5.7 percent uptick in third-quarter sales to 3.09 billion euros, or $3.34 billion.
Parent of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, Richemont is best known for its specialist watchmakers such as IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre, along with fashion maisons including Dunhill and Azzedine Alaïa.
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