Chloé designer Phoebe Philo understands the first law of provocation: never act like you re trying too hard. For spring, she trod a long-legged, high-heeled path through a collection that turned on the sex appeal without resorting to trashiness.
Philo also knows how to undercut the polished taste of a French house, via a smart young woman s way of putting things together. She used conventionally proper materials like navy chiffon, pale suede, black satin and a Spanish-influenced print to make little dresses with a lot of impact. Some were decorated with silver bobbles, to shiver as the wearer walks, others prettily embellished with brass flowers. Instead of being tartily clinging and revealing, Philo s tops were fluted and flew open at the neckline in a subtly undone way. She handled the obligatory leg-show with cuffed shorts and with low-slung skirts in gauzy fabrics, while the signature Chloé swimwear came in dressed-up two-pieces, tied around the body with beaded strings and trailing flirty little scarves.
Feminine and coolly accessorized with matching bags, this was a collection cleverly calculated to make men want to tear the clothes off a girl—in the nicest possible way, of course.
