Sienna Miller attends the Chloe Fall/Winter 2024-25 ready-to-wear show, in Paris, on Feb. 29.Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP
Perhaps it started – “it” being the notion that boho chic is back – in March at Chloé's fall 2024 fashion show, when photographs of the star-studded front row hit social media.
Women who have donned some of the most influential bohemian-inspired looks of the century, from Jerry Hall and Pat Cleveland in the ‘70s, to Sienna Miller and Alexa Chung in the ‘00s, lined the runway to watch designer Chemena Kamali’s debut collection for the French luxury fashion house.
The pictures caused a stir not just for the women’s legendary fashion status but for the ethereal looks they donned themselves – and the same pair of Chloé platforms.
Then there was the actual collection. Composed of a bounty of classic pieces, including soft ruffles, revamped flares, bold jewellery, oversized sunglasses, chunky leather bags, over-the-knee boots, and lots of chocolate brown, it crystalized the message that minimalism is out and bohemianism is in.
The internet has been quick to label the style “boho chic,” a throwback to the look popularized in the early 2000s by Miller and celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe, who were both inspired by ‘70s fashion. But what does the term mean exactly?
“The bohemian is a cultural figure, but ‘boho chic’ is a look that can be marketed, merchandised and sold to consumers who want a touch of ethereal, alternative femininity,” says Rachel Lifter, the clinical assistant professor director for the MA program in costume studies at New York University, paraphrasing Elizabeth Wilson’s book Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts. Think Coachella festival style of the 2010s, with floppy hats, fringed accents and peasant tops.
“Boho chic” shouldn’t be confused with the bohemian fashion of the ‘70s, a time when the younger generation’s style reflected its feelings toward institutional ways of thinking.
“They were tired of the (Vietnam) war and were anti-capitalism,” says Azadeh Monzavi, fashion scholar and art history lecturer at Toronto Metropolitan University. In response, they wore less constricting clothing than in the ‘60s and crocheted and patched their clothes to minimize their consumption of goods.
“Today, we’re missing the political, activist aspect,” Monzavi says. What’s more, “there are issues of cultural appropriation within it.”
A more appropriate term for this new ‘70s-esque look may be “ethereal.” But here’s the catch: It may not be as ‘70s inspired as it is 19th-century inspired. Particularly during the dress reform era. “Dress reform was about women being able to dress in a way that gave their body a chance to move, reacting to the corsets of the 1850s,” Monzavi explains.
Known as the subjects in pre-Raphaelite paintings, these women went against the popular, constricting Victorian style of the era, opting instead for long, flowy hair and equally flowy dresses – a look that’s also, indisputably, very Chloé.
“Fashion is cyclical,” Monzavi says. “We crave fluidity after too much structure, and structure after too much fluidity.”
But, of course, fashion isn’t so black and white. Some pieces popularized by a particular decade, such as the 1850s or 1970s, become classics that remain pieces people turn to decade after decade, despite the trends. Take Veronica Beard, for example. The U.S. clothing brand has been known and loved for its ‘70s-esque silhouettes since it launched 14 years ago.
“We’ve always been inspired by iconic women throughout many decades, but we consistently go back to the ‘70s because it was an amazing time with free-spiritedness and femininity,” says Veronica Swanson Beard, one of the two founders.
Although its customers range in age from 20 to 80, they typically have one trait in common: they “identify with the likes of Stevie Nicks, Jane Birkin or Jerry Hall,” Swanson Beard says. That may explain why Veronica Beard’s most popular style of jeans is the Beverly, a flared pant it has sold since around 2015, maintaining its popularity through the skinny jeans phase.
The brand recently noted an increase in younger customers, around the release time of Daisy Jones and the Six, a TV show starring Riley Keough about a super-stylish 1970s rock star, and again after the last Chloé collection.
Why are so many people attracted to the look? “After years of the quiet luxury trend reigning supreme, people want it all – prints, embellishment, suede, and lots of brown,” Swanson Beard says.
How do you get the look that’s less “boho chic” and more “ethereal?” As Chloé designer Kamali told Vogue: “It’s very much about an intuitive way of dressing, about lightness, movement, fluidity and emotion.”
What it’s not about is individual pieces that scream bohemian.
“If you look at Chloé, each piece is French and classic – it’s the styling, the attitude of the models, the hair and makeup and the accessories that create a ‘70s look,” says Swanson Beard’s sister-in-law Veronica Miele Beard, the other founder of Veronica Beard.
The idea is to avoid looking like you’re wearing a costume by incorporating modern elements into each outfit. “Our designs aren’t strictly ‘70s, they’re more ‘70s with a nod to the ‘90s, for example, where we mix proportions, silhouettes, and prints with quiet luxury pieces,” Miele says. “It’s modern bohemian.”