Parisian luxury fashion house Chloé teams up with the British heritage brand Barbour to create ready-to-wear fashion inspired by archival pieces over a century old.
The French luxury fashion house Chloé has just released a collaboration with Barbour as part of their SS23 collection. This partnership marks the first time a womenswear luxury fashion company will collaborate with the British heritage brand. Founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghoin, a Parisian designer of Egyptian descent, Chloé was based on empowering and uplifting women through feminine designs. Meanwhile, Barbour began in the Market Place of 1894 in South Shields, England. As a 5th-generation family-owned business, the brand has cultivated a ‘timeless British style’ through waxed cotton jackets, which have been a closet staple of outdoorsy men and women for decades. As stated in the collaboration’s press release, “Barbour jackets have a personal significance for Chloé’s Creative Director Gabriela Hearst, who remembers her father and step-father – both Gauchos – wearing them to work on her family’s ranch in Uruguay.”
The Barbour x Chloé ready-to-wear capsule consists of three main pieces, all of which were inspired by Barbour’s archival designs. The Dany coat and Dustyn jacket mimic Barbour’s iconic look while featuring ruffles on the shoulders, a distinctive winged Chloé silhouette. The third piece of the collection, the Hadrien cape, stays true to Barbour’s baseline by using the brand’s ever-recognizable wax-finished textiles. In addition to bags, boots, scarves, and bucket hats, the collection carries Barbour’s outerwear functionality while maintaining Chloé’s luxury image.
Sticking true to the sustainable values of Chloé, Barbour also works to reduce waste. The brand recently celebrated a centenary of re-waxing, a service exercised to extend the life of their jackets rather than push non-sustainable consumerism habits.
Images courtesy of Chloé.
