Gaby Aghion revolutionized the French fashion world in the 1950s with six dresses. Her company Chloé became a fashion institution. And her concept of wearable fashion at an affordable price - prêt-à-porter - becomes the leitmotif of an entire industry.

Lack of money is certainly not the reason why Gaby Aghion becomes an entrepreneur. As the youngest of seven daughters of the successful tobacco producer Hanoka and the wife of the wealthy cotton scion Raymond Aghion, she could have led a comfortable life in Alexandria. But when the situation becomes more difficult for the Jewish residents there in 1945, the couple does not think twice: the world war is over and Paris, the city of elegance, is to become the new home of the two 24-year-olds. There it "clicks". "Back then, many things didn't exist in France, everything had to be invented. That excited me," recalls Gaby Aghion. She has never forgotten the young couple's attitude to life, meeting other left-wing intellectuals in cafés, and whose friends include the author Louis Aragon, the painter Pablo Picasso and the poet Paul Èluard: "It was like a tornado." At the same time, she is amazed at how little postwar French fashion offers: Only a few can afford haute couture. Ill-fitting dresses are the order of the day. Gaby had loved pre-war French fashion. A seamstress had even been employed in the family home, sewing dresses from fashion magazines for the family. In Aghion, the idea of making more of her passion matured in 1952. "I just have to go to work; it's not enough for me to have lunch dates anymore."

Husband and family are amazed. Even her friends give her only two weeks. But Gaby has a good sense of the needs of the modern woman who has neither the time nor the money to have tailored clothes fitted, preferring to go to work dressed in an uncomplicated, chic and affordable way.

She designs six simple dresses in cotton fabrics and has them sewn in the maid's room of her Paris apartment. Her friend Chloé Huysmans becomes the label's namesake. The fashion is meant to be sporty, uncomplicated and feminine - just like Gaby Aghion. "I'm a free spirit and I solve things in my own way." Selling fashion her way goes like this: Aghion visits her favorite boutiques and offers her clothes - under her own label, not the store's label as usual. She calls the styles "luxurious and ready to wear" - coining the term "prêt-à-porter." The six Chloé dresses become a groundbreaking success, and the dressmakers in the apartment can barely keep up with production.

Just one year later, Gaby joins forces with Jacques Lenoir. The businessman takes over the operational work in 1953 so that she can concentrate entirely on the creative side. The first Chloé fashion show is still legendary today: in 1956, the designer presented the new collection at the Café de Flore on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Not on catwalks, but between tables and chairs, the models show the new clothes at eye level of the visitors, which can be purchased and worn immediately. In 1957, Chloé is regularly featured in Vogue Paris. Soon Brigitte Bardot, Maria Callas, Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly are wearing Chloé dresses.

"Fashion should be as fresh as crisp lettuce," thinks Gaby Aghion. To keep her fashion fresh, she starts collaborating with other designers. And although she accuses the Germans of having "dubious taste in fashion," she gives the young Karl Lagerfeld a chance in 1965. He stays for twenty years and inspires with up to twenty designs a day.

While Chloé becomes famous for flowing chiffon dresses and softly draping pantsuits, Gaby Aghion stays true to her own style: her trademark outfit is a black tunic over a white shirt. "I have always dressed simply. I'm not one of those who likes to glitter on the social scene."

In 1985, the 64-year-old retired from running the business and sold her shares in Dunhull, which is now part of the Richemont luxury group. For how much? Private matter. It was certainly a good deal for both. ®

Author: Jennifer Bligh