Ralph Toledano, president of Chloé, reveals how women have powered one of the hottest fashion houses of all time.
Light, sassy and sensuous, Chloé has been one of the most successful luxury brands of all time. Founded in 1952, the French fashion house epitomises Parisian chic. Ironically, their creative stars, the design directors, have all been non-French.
The tradition continues with Brit designer Hannah MacGibbon, who unveiled Chloé's autumn-winter 09 collection in Paris.
Managing such creative powerhouses is a task fraught with challenges: you have to be humble enough to defer to their genius, but hard nosed enough to ensure the collections make business sense.
In 58-year-old Ralph Toledano, president and CEO of Chloé International, this hardness and softness coexist.
"When you hire a designer, it is a pact that you contract with them," says Toledano, reclining in the lounge of the Chloé boutique in Emirates Towers Boulevard.
"On the one hand, you are handing over your brand, a valuable asset to them, while giving them the freedom to interpret it. Each designer has made Chloé evolve according to their own personality. On the other hand, the designers had to make sure that the brand is always respected."
"It's a partnership. My role is to support the creative director who has a job which has tremendous pressure. I have to ensure everything is in place for them to do their best, to make their work as easy as possible and to be there when they need me. I see myself as a creation manager," he says.
Toledano is not a fan of celebrity endorsements or starry egos; he has hired a string of relatively unknown designers to head Chloé, a brand which caters solely for women, the risk has mostly paid off.
"I said a few years ago that celebrities are a mere marketing vehicle. I have not changed my mind about this. At the end of the day it's the product which talks."
As president of Guy Laroche, he appointed the then-unknown Alber Elbaz. He also hand-picked Stella McCartney - helping her transition from being known as the daughter of an ex-Beatle, to becoming an iconic designer, the one who made Chloé edgy yet accessible. Under McCartney's stewardship, Chloé eschewed leather in its line in accordance with her beliefs as a vegan.
Undoubtedly, it may have cost the brand in revenue, considering the success of their leather accessories now.
"There was no conflict there. When we worked with Stella, we did have handbags, only they were not made of leather. When she left, we introduced leather back into the line. Like I said, it's a pact: you respect the designer and she respects you."
He says of Chloé's current creative director: "Hannah is super powerful. If there is one person who breathes the brand, it is Hannah MacGibbon. She is Chloé from head to toe...sometimes designers think of themselves before the brand. Hannah instead, totally identifies herself with the brand."
The brands most successful creative heads have been women. Toledano says this has been a big part of their success.
"They [female designers] have the strength of really knowing a woman's body. A woman does not design according to phantasma, or the last exhibit she sold, or the last book she read. When she designs, she thinks as a woman: what works for her, what she would like to wear, how it should be constructed and what kind of fabric she should wear."
Despite several years as a successful fashion industry leader, Toledano says fashion happened by accident.
He started his career in fragrances, then moved into fashion. "In the 1950s and '60s Parsian couture had its own select clientele and there was no ready-to-wear. Instead, patterns were sold to local couturiers.
"My earliest fashion memory is of my mother going off to spend an afternoon at the couturier, having tea and getting dresses made... Once a month, on a Sunday morning, I would go with my father to his tailor."
Toledano is still bullish about luxury. Chloé has opened stores in Paris, Beirut and the Middle East. "This company must continue talking to people, be creative and innovative. There is one rule in life: when you are up, you must know you will be down. And when you are down, you must know you will be up.
"Life is like that. There have been crises in the past, and there will be more in the future."
Aghion and her business partner, Jacques Lenoir, debuted their first collection in 1956. They chose the name Chloé for its warm, feminine appeal, perfectly in sync with the new mood in Paris: youthful and modern in design, and slightly audacious in spirit. Aghion and Lenoir initiated what is now the hallmark of the house: hiring new, young talents to design the collections.
In 1966, Karl Lagerfeld became head designer and made Chloé one of the most iconic fashion brands of the 1970's.
In the '80's, a series of talented designers including Martine Sitbon kept collections fresh.
The luxury conglomerate, Richemont Group bought Chloé in 1985.Stella McCartney reinvented the label, taking it out of its slump, with her mix of vintage lingerie, tailoring, and low-riding trousers.
Her successor, Phoebe Philo continued the Chloé legacy of luxurious, bold ready to wear whilst stamping the house with her own unique signature: sexy day wear, fluid lines, graceful and distinctly modern diaphanous tops.
She was followed by Paulo Melim Andersson, who ushered in an edgy creativity to the brand. Hannah MacGibbon succeeded him last year.
