This morning, Chemena Kamali presented her second runway collection for Chloé. With her voluminous tiered dresses, she single-handedly revived the early bohemian trend, long after everyone else from Sienna Miller to Sydney Sweeney and Maya Rudolph Waite had passed on it. What must-have items will she be adding to our wardrobes this season? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is…Victorian lingerie.
The spring show opened with a model wearing a delicate sheer embroidered white blouse with matching jodhpurs, which was tied at the waist with a drawstring that expanded up the leg like a balloon before being tied at the ankle with another belt. There is also a version in cotton voile with lace inlays and slits at the knees, and a sleeker version in silk with lace edges. Kamali also showed short bloomer shorts, an update on the balloon skirt style currently popular among the younger generation.
Lingerie as outerwear is nothing new on the catwalk, but Kamali’s 19th-century interpretation reinterprets the concept in a more modern, personal way. In the early 19th century, pantaloons (or pantalettes, as they were commonly known) were worn under petticoats and hoop skirts, women wore long skirts to protect their modesty so that their legs were not exposed to sudden winds, while young girls wore lingerie that cut off at the knees and exposed the bottom of the garment. Kamali often cites the 70s as a source of inspiration, when the bohemian trend as we now know it first emerged. At the time, designers were probably referencing and reimagining 19th-century fashion. Karl Lagerfeld, Chloé’s creative director from the 1960s to the 1990s, was repeatedly inspired by that era, showing cotton poplin jodhpurs in 1976 and bass-inspired styles in 1994.
“I’m very conscious of the record and I don’t have an objective opinion of Chloë; it’s a very personal relationship with her,” Kamali told the Eskom podcast earlier this month. “I don’t feel like I have to force myself to do anything. It just comes naturally.” Even though bloomers have been a trend for some time now — they’ve become the garment of a certain type of internet/hyper-chic young women. A missing piece and even a hot topic in Prada’s Fall 2024 collection — they’re amazing. Let’s understand them as an extension of how you wear them. The designer is an avid vintage buyer (her line of vintage shirts is quickly becoming famous in the fast fashion world), and it’s easy to imagine her spotting vintage trousers while shopping and thinking, “Hey, I could wear these with pants.” If there’s one thing to learn from the Spring 2025 collections so far, it’s that while it’s a time for a little quirkiness and individuality, Kamali knows that girls just want to have fun.
