IN THE BAG: Kendall Jenner would have been only 10 years old when the Chloé Paddington bag first came out, causing a sensation with its east-west shape, side buckles and — the pièce de résistance — a prominent padlock.
Now, 20 years later, Jenner is fronting a campaign for the nearly logo-less bag, recently revived by Chloé creative director Chemena Kamali.
“I wanted to capture the Paddington as it lives today, spontaneous, not precious, a bag that has become part of women’s lives, carrying both intimacy and character,” she said in a statement shared first with WWD.
Jenner’s costars in the campaign are “The White Lotus” actress Aimee Lou Wood and Japanese singer Anna Tanaka, a member of the South Korean girl group Meovv, known by her fans as Anna.
The K-pop singer was born in 2005, when Phoebe Philo was creative director at the French house. (Kamali started her career at Chloé in 2007 as part of Philo’s team, returning twice and ultimately landing at the creative helm two years ago.)
For the new campaign, Kamali conscripted French director Mati Diop to create a 35mm film that pays “homage to the spirit of 1970s French cinema,” she said.
Diop famously won the Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival for her feature film debut “Atlantics.”
David Sims photographed the still campaign in black-and-white, the three women interacting with the Paddington in various ways.
Kamali brought back the Paddington on her fall runway, and the style is landing in Chloé boutiques and online this month.
According to the house, the new version in washed and vegetable-tanned leather boasts lighter hardware, an adjustable shoulder strap and a single-zip opening.
