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Chloe’s Jerry Hall Jaunt

Come back Jerry Hall, all is forgiven. Hall and that zesty gang of ex-pats who were the coolest of the cool in France three decades ago before conquering New York, were alive and well on the catwalk of Chloe on Wednesday, March 11, in Paris.

In an insouciant moment, Chloe’s designer Hannah MacGibbon sent out upbeat, haute bohemian gals with the big haired tresses of the Texan supermodel and the cool exploratory attitude of the entourage she frequented after first crossing the Pond to France.

“Something that was late seventies, early eighties, like Antonio’s girls,” MacGibbon explained backstage, referring to Antonio Lopez, the illustrator whose entourage included Jessica Lange and Grace Jones. Lopez, an early victim of AIDS who died in 1987 enjoyed a comeback last year with the publication of previously unseen photo portraits.

Something of that pre-AIDS, far less careerist and happily independent era ran through this collection and was clear from the chicly casual way the opening looks seemed effortlessly thrown together.

An opening horse blanket style cape, a John Wayne cut western shirt or loose and forgiving ski pant trousers recently pinched from the boyfriend’s wardrobe were all easy to wear.

MacGibbon tapped into the big-shouldered revival seen on runways on both sides of the Atlantic, but her jackets were cut with a significant difference. They swung and had room, unlike nearly other designer who makes this eighties power moment with cinched waists.

Florentine aristocrat horsewomen with satin pants, thigh boots, tassel belt and silk print shirt segued into velvet pantsuits with jackets loose at the waist. This was the standout look that had most cameras snapping.

MacGibbon also sent out some sure-fire winner ankle boots with cable wool sides and a new selection of sandals with crystal-encrusted straps. While the critics did not all fight to get backstage, there was a small army of retailers buzzing around bearing Cheshire cat smiles of store owners who have just spied profitable merchandise.

It was hard to see too many women donning the mid-thigh cable wool shorts or one very odd dress, an eye-boggling concoction of horizontal velvet strips with awkward side knots. It had a silhouette so large, it was technically a Big Black Dress, not a little one.

But these few clangers could not deny the obvious, that this was an impressive comeback after a less than stellar debut in September and clear proof that MacGibbon, an alumnus of Chloe and Koji Tatsuno, has plenty of shots in her fashion arsenal.

“I always thought Hannah had what it takes to create an important collection. What we saw today, you could sense a decade ago,” Tatsuno told FWD backstage, as TV crews circled his former pupil, who ended today as a star.

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