PRESENTATION: Mood of the moment-Gaby Aghion and the house of Chloé
The story of Gaby Aghion is the story of a woman the like of which we rarely see these days. A woman of elegance, distinction, a true cosmopolitan, who founded one of the jewels in the crown of Paris fashion and in doing so, created a completely fresh idea of ready-to-wear: Chloé’s own blend of cool and sophistication, bathed in light and infused with a new femininity. Her name is intrinsically and eternally linked with the house she founded in 1952.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: The Jewish Museum Archive
“Mood of the moment: Gaby Aghion and the house of Chloé” is the first museum exhibition honoring the visionary Gaby Aghion and her legacy as the founder of the French fashion house Chloé. Casting a new light on the label’s 70-year history with nearly 150 garments as well as never-before-exhibited sketches and documents from the Chloé Archive, this exhibition highlights Aghion’s vision of effortless, luxurious fashion, and the work of iconic designers who began their careers with the brand, including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, and Phoebe Philo. The exhibition showcases Aghion as a leader whose work altered the course of the global fashion industry in liberating women’s bodies from the restrictive attitudes and styles of time, as well as pioneering the emergence of luxury ready-to-wear. Gaby Aghion was born Gabriella Hanoka in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1921 to a Jewish family. Like many educated upper-class families, especially among Egyptian Jews, the Hanokas spoke French and admired French culture. Aghion and her mother were fond of French fashion and the ideal of Parisian elegance, inviting seamstresses to their home to recreate designs they saw in French fashion magazines. In 1945, she moved to Paris with her husband Raymond Aghion and the couple quickly embedded themselves in the cultural scene of the city’s Left Bank cafés. Aghion established Chloé in 1952, during a time when the French fashion market was dominated by the stiff formality of haute couture—women who couldn’t afford haute couture would make their own copies. Aghion wanted to offer original, modern, and elegant well-made garments in high-quality fabrics and free women from the rigid designs of the time. For the name of her new brand, Aghion chose the name of a friend, Chloé, inspired by the roundness of the letters and the youthful feminine image the name conveyed. Choosing this name, Aghion created a Chloé persona: a woman who defined herself not only by her looks but by her free and modern attitude. She sold her first dresses to the shops she frequented herself and insisted the boutiques keep the Chloé labels in the dresses, despite the common practice of them replacing the maker’s label with their own. Aghion presented her earliest designs at fashion shows staged in the cafés of the Saint Germain area of Paris instead of the exclusive salons of fashion houses, as was common practice at the time. Such approaches made Chloé known for a new kind of luxury that spoke to modern women, emphasizing elegance, simplicity, and comfort, embodying the Parisian bourgeois bohème spirit of refined effortlessness. By capturing the mood of the moment, Aghion founded a fashion brand characterized by an easy elegance. The exhibition explores the ways in which each subsequent creative director uniquely interpreted the Chloé ethos and echoed the needs of their time, from the development of ready-to-wear to embracing sustainable practices in fashion. This historical overview includes designs by Karl Lagerfeld (first hired by Aghion in 1964), Martine Sitbon, Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Hannah MacGibbon, Clare Waight Keller, Natacha Ramsay-Levi, and Gabriela Hearst. Though a pioneer of women’s fashion and dress, Aghion herself wore the same uniform for decades: a black skirt with a waistcoat and a silk blouse in soft colors that reminded her of the Egyptian sands. The exhibition will conclude with a section dedicated to 50 iterations of the iconic Chloé blouse from across the brand’s history, celebrating the beauty of everyday wear and rooting visitors firmly in Aghion’s vision.
Photo left: Dress designed by Martine Sitbon, spring–summer 1990, silk crepe, black chiffon, plastic pellets, and beads. © Chloé Archive, Paris. Photo by Julien T. Hamon. Photo right: Dress designed by Clare Waight Keller, spring–summer 2016, chiffon. © Chloé Archive, Paris. Photo by Julien T. Hamon
Info: Curators: Claudia Gould and Choghakate Kazarian, Assistant Curator: Guest Curator: Kristina Parsons, The Jewish Museum, 1109 5th Ave at 92nd Street, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 13/10/2023-18/2/2024, Days & Hours: Thu 11:00-20:00, Mon & Fri-Sun 11:00-18:00, https://thejewishmuseum.org/
