Chatter of Hannah MacGibbon’s departure from Chloe has built since the beloved fashion house’s Fall showing. Die-hard Chloe fans are still swooning over the fashion house’s stellar Spring 2011 collection, but rumors of MacGibbon’s replacement ran rampant. It seems we now have an answer as the French label has announced that MacGibbon is leaving and her replacement is English designer Clare Waight Keller.
MacGibbon was often praised for her knowledge of the Chloe brand, after all, she was with the brand for more than 10 years, but some doubted her ability to bring the effortless wow factor that the brand’s followers demand. After the abrupt exit of Paulo Melim Anderson in 2008, MacGibbon scrambled to take the reins and critics were unsure whether the designer, who had worked alongside Phoebe Philo for years, was up to working at the helm of one of France’s most beloved luxury labels. Where Waight Keller will hopefully succeed is in attracting the masses to Chloe rather than just the brand’s already loyal followers, but we’ll all have to wait until September to see if she’s up to the challenge.
Photo: Vincenzo Grillo for IMAXtree
