Ladies Group Lunch & Gaby Aghion Exhibit

Join The Camaraderie community for a fun day out, visiting Exhibit Mood of the moment: Gaby Aghion and the house of Chloé, at The Jewish Museum. 

We'll start off with a delicious ladies lunch and then we'll head over to the museum to see the first museum exhibition honoring the visionary Jewish entrepreneur Gaby Aghion (1921-2014) and her legacy. 

"Mood of the moment: Gaby Aghion and the house of Chloé casts a new light on the label’s 70-year history with nearly 150 garments as well as never-before-exhibited sketches and documents from the Chloé Archive. Highlighting Aghion’s vision of effortless, luxurious fashion, and the work of iconic designers who began their careers with the brand, including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, and Phoebe Philo, the exhibition showcases Aghion as a leader whose work altered the course of the global fashion industry in liberating women's bodies from the restrictive attitudes and styles of the time, as well as pioneering the emergence of luxury ready-to-wear. By capturing the mood of the moment, Aghion founded a fashion brand characterized by an easy elegance.

The exhibition will explore the ways in which each subsequent creative director after Aghion uniquely interpreted the Chloé ethos and echoed the needs of their time, from the development of ready-to-wear to embracing sustainable practices in fashion. This historical overview includes designs by Karl Lagerfeld (first hired by Aghion in 1964), Martine Sitbon, Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Hannah MacGibbon, Clare Waight Keller, Natacha Ramsay-Levi, and Gabriela Hearst.

Gaby Aghion was born Gabriella Hanoka in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1921 to a Jewish family. Like many educated upper-class families, especially among Egyptian Jews, the Hanokas spoke French and admired French culture. Aghion and her mother were fond of French fashion and the ideal of Parisian elegance, inviting seamstresses to their home to recreate designs they saw in French fashion magazines. In 1945, she moved to Paris with her husband Raymond Aghion and the couple quickly embedded themselves in the cultural scene of the city’s Left Bank cafés.

Aghion established Chloé in 1952, during a time when the French fashion market was dominated by the stiff formality of haute couture—women who couldn't afford haute couture would make their own copies. Aghion wanted to offer original, modern, and elegant well-made garments in high-quality fabrics and free women from the rigid designs of the time. For the name of her new brand, Aghion chose the name of a friend, Chloé, inspired by the roundness of the letters and the youthful feminine image the name conveyed. Choosing this name, Aghion created a Chloé persona: a woman who defined herself not only by her looks but by her free and modern attitude. She sold her first dresses to the shops she frequented herself and insisted the boutiques keep the Chloé labels in the dresses, despite the common practice of them replacing the maker’s label with their own.

Aghion presented her earliest designs at fashion shows staged in the cafés of the Saint Germain area of Paris instead of the exclusive salons of fashion houses, as was common practice at the time. Such approaches made Chloé known for a new kind of luxury that spoke to modern women, emphasizing elegance, simplicity, and comfort, embodying the Parisian bourgeois bohème spirit of refined effortlessness."

Open to all women and first-timers are encouraged! Our events are 100% friendly and welcoming, specifically designed for ladies to attend alone and without knowing anyone prior!

Your registration covers admission to the Exhibit and admin fees. 

All food and beverages will be pay-as-you-go.

Advanced registration is required.