Chloé and the inspiring muse: Artemisia Gentileschi
The Renaissance painter is the season's icon chosen by Gabriela Hearst to design the French maison's autumn-winter wardrobe at Paris Fashion Week.
The inspiring muse of the Chloé Fall Winter 2023 2024 collection is the painter Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the few women who succeeded in the male-dominated world of Renaissance art. The modern world needs to rediscover the spirit of the Renaissance, said Gabriela Hearst , the creative director of the maison, because "it's the artists and the scientists who will get us out of this mess – I don't put too much faith in politicians".
Artemisia Gentileschi loved dresses—she was notorious for running into debt by placing lavish orders for taffeta beyond her means—and the pearl earrings, portrait necklines and Bishop sleeves on the runway might have come straight out of her canvases. There are courtesan capes and graphic striped dresses with silk ribbons, while skintight cream ribbed dresses and black leather outerwear appear to be a contemporary version of a female artist.
New this season are QR codes in each garment, which identify and authenticate each piece, designed to facilitate and encourage a circular economy. Attention to sustainability (the maison is the only one to be BCorp certified) and female empowerment.
