For Clare Waight Keller, great design is not just about quality but lifespan too

After heralding luxury labels, British designer Clare Waight Keller is excited about reaching a larger demographic through her collaboration with Uniqlo

In the world of modern fashion, few narratives are as compelling as that of Clare Waight Keller. Best known, perhaps, for designing Meghan Markle's wedding dress, Waight Keller has been a formidable figure in the fashion industry well before her royal commission. In the 1990s, she worked as a womenswear designer at Calvin Klein, an era when the brand was synonymous with both cool effortlessness and refined luxury.

Her tenure as the creative director at Chloé from 2011 to 2017 stands out as a masterclass in revitalising heritage brands with a contemporary touch. Waight Keller reintroduced the bohemian charm of the 1970s—originally channeled by the house's founder, Gaby Aghion—back onto the global stage, making it relevant and appealing to today's woman. Under Waight Keller, Chloé flourished, becoming one of the most profitable brands in Richemont's portfolio. However, the most compelling chapter in her career was her appointment in 2017 as the first female creative director of Givenchy in its 66-year-long history. Here, she masterfully blended her British heritage—marked by a willingness to experiment, along with femininity and fluidity (a nod to her Chloé days)—with the refined elegance of Parisian fashion.

Back to basics 

Innovation—whether it stems from a silhouette, fabric development, or how you communicate about it—is, Waight Keller says, probably the most important factor in fashion design. This ethos has guided her throughout her career, from one label to another. “[It involves] understanding what that brand stands for, and what's at the heart of the message, and then applying some of those elements to your design,” she tells The Established.  

Waight Keller's work reflects a broader cultural synthesis, akin to Britain's diversity, where myriad cultural influences and ethnic backgrounds interweave to create something uniquely compelling, similar to her predecessors like Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, and John Galliano.

“I think we, as designers, are always changing and adapting based on so many different things…Many years ago, we were trained to really understand clothes, understand cuts, understand how to put things together, and how things move on the body. Today, it's so much more about statements, and doing something viral or getting something that grabs attention,” she says. “It's really a different world when it comes to fashion and the way we design. I quite enjoy both sides of it. I am greatly enjoying designing with the old ethos of really understanding clothes, understanding cuts, and finding great pieces for people to wear.” 

In Fall 2023, Waight Keller unveiled a debut collection under a new sub-label, Uniqlo C, for Japanese brand Uniqlo—her first collaboration since departing Givenchy in 2020. The line-up featured plenty of maxi and oversized styles as well as pleated fabrics. “For most of my career, I've not been able to reach such a big demographic of women,” she notes, adding that even men are shopping from the womenswear line. “There is definitely a real resident resonance that it's making with people in different parts of the globe,” she says.

Fuss-free, no-frills fashion 

And now, she’s back with the second installment, this time for Spring 2024. The attitude of the collection is a mix between sophistication and casualness, she says. Waight Keller, however, remains conscious of the wearer when creating a collection: “I've thought very much about how you could incorporate an airy and light outerwear piece over a dress, and what that proportion and attitude looks like. ” This time around, the collection is inspired by the artist communities in and around Lavender Hill in South London. “Not only are they in quite a cultural part of the city, but also have a very interesting neighbourhood—a bit of countryside and city life intertwined together,” she adds. “I'm thinking about the everyday person on the street; it’s really someone I connect with. I am that person. I'm always going between things. I want the collection to resonate strongly, and be able to be a completely natural and easy combination of items in your wardrobe.”

However, the divide between accessible fashion and luxury fashion continues to widen, a trend Waight Keller is all too aware of. “Luxury fashion has become stratospherically expensive. What I hope to do is to bring [to the collection] some of that training, sophistication, the eye, the air, the sort of energy, and also the vision that I had from my previous roles to something that is really for all people from  different corners of society,” she says. 

Thus, her collaboration with Uniqlo. “One of the reasons I was super excited to start a collaboration with Uniqlo and develop my own collection with them is because it really does align with my vision in the 21st century—that fashion is for everyone. It shouldn't be elitist. Anyone should be able to afford great, designed pieces.” 

But what stands out the most in her designs, whether on the aisle of a royal wedding, on the runways of Paris, or even her collaboration with Uniqlo, is her ability to speak a universal language—one that inherently captures what most women want: timeless, quiet elegance. “The biggest challenge is trying to find ways to create fashion for an ever-growing population and a population that wants clothes and wants fashion. To try to impart a sense of beauty, a sense of quality and design that has a sense of timelessness about it,” she explains. 

Good design and designing with longevity, she believes, are the underappreciated aspects of fashion, yet the most sustainable ones. “It becomes imperative to design something that has a lifespan and make that lifespan as long as possible. I really try to think of that when I'm looking at the wardrobe pieces I'm designing,” she says, reflecting on the many items from Uniqlo in her wardrobe that she has had for over 10 years and hopes to have for another 20. “I believe that the sign of great design is not just great quality but also sustainability. Ultimately, you're not replacing, you're not buying more, you're using it for the life of its use. Fundamentally, it comes back to Uniqlo’s principle of LifeWear, which I do think is a very interesting take on sustainability,” she says.

For Uniqlo C, Waight Keller hopes this new collection will have a significant impact—one that focuses on the making of the garment so more people can afford it. “More than anything, I probably have a greater ability to influence more people and the way they dress, than I have been able to at any other brand in my career,” she concludes. 

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