Watch Chloé Spring Summer 2016 fashion show

WATCH CHLOÉ SPRING SUMMER 2016 fashion show:

Nicole Phelps, VOGUE.COM: The 1990s is one of Spring’s big stories, but no one has put forward her interest in the decade more explicitly than Clare Waight Keller at Chloé. On every seat, there was a printed note: “This season’s collection is a tribute to girls named Kate, Chloé, Cecilia, Corinne, Rosemary, Emma, and Courtney, who embody the liberty and the elegance of a perfectly mastered and excessively lived simplicity.” Backstage, the designer explained she grew up alongside that motley crew of models, photographers, and superstar performers. For Waight Keller, they represent a freer time: “There’s such a fast pace to fashion now; I think we’ve lost the innocence of the spirit of fashion, the youthful optimism that it portrays. And I think there’s something quite joyful about fashion that’s been missing.”

Jessica Iradale, WWD: Fashion is an industry of optimists, isn’t it? Always projecting a positive outlook, no matter what the markets say. Clare Waight Keller espoused “optimism” as her spring point of view backstage before the Chloé show and it didn’t feel like hooey. Her numbers are up and she put on one of the happiest collections of the season, fueled by the power of the rainbow. If not original to Chloé, the athletic stuff underscored the collection’s way of upscaling everyday casual. “A piece can seem quite normal but actually is incredibly beautiful,” Waight Keller said. “I think that mix is truly how women dress today.” It’s smart business — look at all the imitations of Vans slip-ons that have flooded the luxury market.