A French luxury fashion house most recognized for its muted, earthy-toned magazine adverts. They often feature their classic calfskin saddle bags alongside their timeless ribbed bottles. Chloé has become the ‘It Brand’ for the coined term “Clean Girl Aesthetic” in the last 2 years. Featured on various social poster boards, their boho feminine appeal comes in more forms than fashion.
Famous for their light rose-based Eau De Parfum, Chloé uses some of the finest grown roses in the world. Imported from “The City of Roses,” Petra, Turkey, the petals are strategically laid out to dry, then produced into a high rose concentrate then shipped to Grasse, France, where Chloé produces their perfumes.
Fragrance History
The Jewish-Egyptian-born fashion trailblazer Gaby Aghion and her husband Jacques Lenoir founded Chloé in 1952. Gaby was enamored with her “pretty friend” Chloé name, then became the trademark for the fashion house. Less than 20 years of Gaby and Jacques’ entrepreneurship, Karl Lagerfeld became a designer under the label in 1964. Less than a decade later, Karl took over as the sole designer from 1975 to 1983.
One of Karl’s most classic fragrances was to be released in 1975, self-titled Chloé.
Costing around 35 USD during the perfume’s hay day, it is now selling for hundreds on eBay today. The newest formulations don’t compare to the modernized version, as said by many of the original wearers.
Chloé 1975 famously exudes woodsy floral gardens. Liquified amber in color, the smell of a supple summer morning refreshes the air when pumped onto your wrists and clothing. The bottle, uniquely designed as an oblong sphere, has an addition of a fingerprint-like impression on the side. Its timeless appeal continues to live in the minds of those who no longer have it in their vanities.
Chloé 1975 has an abundance of layers to each of the notes.
Top Notes include Aldehydes, Peach, Honeysuckle, Hyacinth, Lilac, Ylang-Ylang, Orange Blossom, Coconut and Bergamot. Middle Notes roll into Tuberose, Narcissus, Carnation, Jasmine, Orris Root and Rose. Bottom Notes, sit the most fragrant, deep scents of Oakmoss, Amber, Sandalwood, Benzoin, Musk and Cedar.
The reformulation of Chloé 1975 was launched in 2008 with fewer top and middle notes, only keeping 2 of the original base notes, Cedar and Amber. The original Chloé 1975 has similar notes to VIKTOR&ROLF’s BonBon Fragrance with the same Top Notes of Peach and Orange, Middle Note of Jasmine, and its Base, Amber, Sandalwood, and Cedar selling retail for 104 USD.
Ad Campaigns & Celebrity Endorsements
In the last few years, we’ve seen many models and actresses be inaugurated into titles of ‘Faces’ for Chloé’s Fragrance line. Notably, Actress Lucy Boynton became the newest and current face of Chloé’s signature scents in 2020. Before her, Actress Hayley Bennett held that title. began with the trio of Chloë Sevigny, Clémence Poésy, and Anja Rubik first posing in a 2008 campaign. Following them, Dree Hemingway and Camille Rowe-Pourcheresse followed into the later years.
Brand Recognition of Today
Chloé is best known for fashion but most recognized in department and beauty storefronts selling their unique rectangular ribbed bottles with Chloé’s signature bow. 2009 was Chloé fragrances breakthrough year. Awarded fragrance of the year by The Fragrance Foundation. Then awarded once again by Allure 2018, naming Chloé Eau De Parfum fragrance of the year.
Their soft soapy florals, Chloé Eau De Parfum, Chloé Roses De Chloé, and Chloé Love Story, are the most popular, catching the eyes of younger female demographics. Chloé Love Story is the most fruity out of the three. Carrying notes of Grapefruit, Pear, Lemon, and Black Current. Compared to Chloé Roses De Chloé, beholding aromas of Rose, Magnolia, Apple, White Musk, and Cedar. While Chloé Eau De Parfum is a more basic floral take on the two, featuring Lily, Rose, Peony, Magnolia and evidently added in a large portion of Chloé’s perfumes, Cedar and Amber, as the base notes.
Quality & Price
At an average price of 120 USD to 150 USD for their mid-sized Eau De Parfum bottles capped at 1.7 fl. oz, the price is a reach for broad consumer bases. The largest 5.1 fl. oz bottles are hiked up at over 300 USD.
But does the quality match?
You’d think, like the majority of designer fragrance companies situated in France, they would grow their flowers in their motherland. You’d be wrong but pleasantly surprised to know Chloé’s roses are grown in the “City of Roses,” where the most fragrant high-quality roses are grown in the world, Turkey.
Robertet bears the weight of Chloé’s fragrances, being head of a perfume company dating back to 1850, manufacturing some of the most renowned raw materials. 60 tons of rose petals arrive at a factory where they are carefully dried, produced into a high rose concentration, then shipped from Turkey to Grasse, France, in large vats to be produced into perfume.
Final Word
Chloé’s array of 54 ethereally powdery fragrances costs a pretty penny to wearers of the brand. Most of their scents are competitive compared to the mass of other France-born fashion brands turned fragrance purveyors.
So why is Chloé so expensive?
For a run of nearly 5 decades in the perfumery business, Chloé has expertise in making women smell as lighty feminine as possible. Filling the air with soapy rose, it’s bound to make many swoon over your scent. She is worth every pretty penny when you have all eyes on you.
