PFW: Chemena Kamali’s Bohemian Rhapsody At Chloé Fall/Winter 2024

For her debut show in Paris, the designer bets big on the Boho revival

PARIS, FRANCE – FEBRUARY 29: A model walks the runway during the Chloé Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on February 29, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Yanshan Zhang/Getty Images)

The stakes were high for Chemena Kamali‘s first collection as Chloé’s creative director this season. Not only is she joining a long line of groundbreaking women who have held the role (as well as Karl Lagerfeld) following Gabriela Heart’s departure, but her appointment came at a time when the industry’s male-dominated leadership positions were coming into focus. In just a few months before her Paris Fashion Week debut, Kamali was not only tasked with reviving a somewhat struggling house but also making the case for women dressing women.

In its seventy years in business, throughout all its leadership eras, the red thread connecting Chloé to its following has always been a luxury approach to ready-to-wear and Euro-Bohemian aesthetic—both of which characterised Kamali’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection. Taking cues from Lagerfeld’s ’70s archives, mini shorts, fringing and cape coats with knee-high boots were a strong and persistent look throughout. But splashes of Phoebe Philo and Stella McCartney‘s respective input were seen in high-waisted flares, soft ruffles, breezy blouses and a range of tonal accessories.

But where some of the retro Boho-Chic elements are deeply reminiscent of the noughties and celebrities like Sienna Miller (who happened to be sitting front row), these looks possessed a distinctly modern edge. Checked outerwear, furry headbands, clogs and buoyant layering made for particularly pleasant viewing and inspiration for the year ahead.

Speaking about the collection, the German-born designer, who worked under Philo at Chloé in the early ’00s, praised the pioneering spirit of the brand’s founder, Gaby Aghion, in reflecting the needs of modern women.

“Aghion injected lightness, she wanted women to be able to move and go to work,” she said backstage. “And then in the late ’70s, you had [another] moment of liberation in the evolution of femininity.”

“Chloé is about emotion…and female energy,” she continued. “I always said I would love to bring back the feelings I had when I fell in love with Chloé more than twenty years ago.” And though some body diversity on the runway could’ve enriched this sentiment of celebrating female liberation, it’s a promising start for Kamali’s era.