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The Cocktail Bar at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge is a very 'Ab Fab' venue and was a particularly fitting setting for the recent UK launch of Chloé eyewear.
Manufactured in France by the Ciel (Sky) division of L'Amy, the frames and sunglasses are now available in the UK through Aldo Eyewear, with the latest collections on show at Mido due to hit the high streets in September.
Bernard Badoche, managing director of Ciel, which handles the Chloé eyewear brand worldwide, describes the new line of vintage-style oversized sunglasses as 'quite different to their Italian competitors'. They are fashionable designs mostly in handmade acetate that have the 'Chloe look', he says. Sunglasses retail at £180-220, and the ophthalmic models come in lower.
The luxury fashion house Chloé, which was set up in 1952, attracted stars from Jackie Kennedy and Brigitte Bardot to Maria Callas and Grace Kelly to its Paris boutique. More recently the name has had a particular link with the UK, thanks to its association with designer Stella McCartney in the late 90s, and the recent appointment of a St Martins-trained creative director in Hannah MacGibbon.
These latter connections, says Badoche, should help a lot in the UK market. 'It's a nice name. We are lucky to be able to build on a name that is well known in Europe, Asia and the US, which is quite rare for brands today.'
With the UK one of the biggest markets behind the US, the company is well placed. Its sunglasses are already stocked by department stores from Harvey Nichols to Selfridges, with Badoche explaining that it's easier to start with sunglasses than ophthalmics.
Myrte moment
It is the sunglasses that are the stars of the night, in terms of attention, and Ciel marketing manager Isabelle Bosio highlights some of the top-selling models. Myrte for example, mixes metal and acetate, as with many of the sunglass designs, which are inspired by the ready to wear clothing collections and handbags. One of the bagmaking details is a small 'pin' decor in the end pieces. Another model is inspired by a large 'button', while Saskia takes its influence from the handle of a bag and Eloise has a hinge modelled on a buckle. Another stand-out design is the 70s-styled Filao sunglass, which has cut-out temples.
Bosio adds that the ophthalmic collection also reflects the spirit of the brand with small round shapes and panto styles with rounded temples.
She describes Chloé as refined and retro styles, with brown, green, tortoise and beige colourings to the fore and new translucent acetates for the winter.
Signature piece
Aldo Eyewear is now ready to concentrate on the optical line as well, a collection that has trebled in size for the September launch. The company is the central point for UK orders, enquiries and aftersales, and is linked by computer to the L'Amy stock room and order processing. The company has five sales representatives on the road and, according to Aldo Fortino, distribution will be in selected high-end practices.
Fortino describes the latest sunglass collection as more commercial, with a number of base-6 styles.
'The designs launched at Mido also introduce more colour than the normal Chloé fashions which concentrate on muted and soft colours,' he says.
'One of the Chloé signature piece sunglasses is in OK and Hello magazines almost every week and a customer in Richmond sold four pieces in one day. That helps,' he says.
The high profile of Chloé's handbags is also beneficial, says Fortino, while making sure that no one places a cocktail in the proximity of a Chloé silver snakeskin-style bag. It does have a price tag of £2,000 after all.