Chloé confirms departure of creative director Clare Waight Keller

Chloé has confirmed the anticipated departure of creative director Clare Waight Keller; her last collection for the Richemont-owned house will be presented at Paris Fashion Week on 2 March.

Rumours have been circulating for some time that Waight Keller would not renew her contract in March and that Chloé was in talks with Natacha Ramsay-Levi, currently second in command at Louis Vuitton, to replace her.

While Waight Keller's departure was confirmed today, her successor has not yet been confirmed, and it is believed the house will celebrate Waigt Keller's six-year tenure with an after-show party in March.

Chief executive Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye described her as a "remarkable partner at Chloé". "She helped rejuvenate the legacy of [founder] Gaby Aghion, the first ever Chloé girl, by infusing a cool and easy breeze into the Chloé wardrobe, effortlessly mixing graceful and feminine ‘flou’ with a free-wheeling and boyish take on tailoring,” he said.

According to earlier reports Waight Keller returned to live in London last June and had been commuting between London and Paris, which the mother of three no longer wished to do.

She described her time at Chloé as "extraordinary". "Chloé is a brand with values close to my heart and I have truly enjoyed working with some of the best talents in the industry," she said.

Prior to Chloé, Waight Keller had worked at Pringle and had previously been with Gucci (under Tom Ford), Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. She took over at Chloé six years ago from Hannah MacGibbon. Her designs have been a commercial and critical success and, if she is succeeded by Ramsay-Levi, it would potentially mark a change in aesthetic as Ramsay-Levi is known for a harder-edged approach.