As the Spice Girls once famously crooned, “You know it’s time to say good-bye.” Still, no amount of advance notice could prepare us when the time finally came for Clare Waight Keller to take her final bow at Chloe’s recent show at Paris Fashion Week. The farewell is bittersweet: change at a fashion powerhouse is always exciting, but Keller’s six-year tenure has been so marked with hit after hit that it makes it a little harder than hard to bid adieu.

Keller’s swan song was, to some degree, an ode to the Chloe girl. There were the signature floaty, lighter-than-air dresses and blouses, the baggy tracksuits that paid homage to the stellar seen-everywhere ones from a couple of seasons back and the oversized sweaters and coats that spoke of a free-spirited nonchalance, one that was so distinctly Chloe. Well, Keller’s Chloe.

Even the tailoring was cut on the boxy to further that “just found this and threw this on” sentiment. However, while that Chloe girl who chases after the sun in a bohemian joie de vivre is there, that’s not all there is to her. Not Keller’s final Chloe girl. There were smatterings of ’60s mod-prep with mini dresses and coats worn with Mary Janes. Some were dipped in a subtle flower power print. We counted at least five frill-free pant looks that were quite the opposite of the aforementioned girly girl. There was a good mix. A medley of identities, if you will.

As the figurative red curtain fell, Keller got the applause – and the subsequent social media tributes – that she very well deserved. Like we said – bittersweet. No one is completely sure of her next move, but everyone knows – and to quote the Spice Girls again – that while it is “good-bye, my friend, it’s not the end.” (Rumours say that Keller might be headed to Givenchy. If so, that’ll be pretty darn exciting indeed. Ah fashion rumour mill, how quickly you spin.)

Photos: YOYOKULALA.com