#INSPO Summer issue

PHI PHI Bikini, Gemelli, £55;
Gold Multi Arrow Necklace,
ChloBo, £125; Gold and
Pyrite Red Tassel Necklace,
ChloBo, £135; Gold triangle
Cherish Ring, ChloBo, £32;
Silver Arrow Cherish Ring,
ChloBo, £25.
#SundanceQueen
PHOTOGRAPHY Tim Herbert WORDS and STYLING Kerryn Grady HAIR and MAKEUP
Lucy Mckeown MODEL Nakita Ferguson
Chloe Moss is the name behind, and the face of, bohemian
jewellery brand, ChloBo. The 32-year-old Cheshire-born
designer was the special guest at the exclusive launch of
her Sundance Collection at the Mococo store in Liverpool’s
Metquarter, and was as excitable and bubbly as the sparkling
aperitifs being served on the night. The petite brunette is
an enthusiastic, over-sharing (she kept letting details of her
next two collections slip!) fire cracker with bucket-loads of
passion for what she does. Sporting layers of long gold
and beaded necklaces, multiple rings and stacking bracelets
climbing her wrists, paired with rock chick leather trousers
and a chic black blazer, she sells her collection well, which is
fortunate as she models in all her campaigns, too.
For anyone not yet familiar with ChloBo, the brand was
born from a trip to Bali when Chloe was travelling with
her boyfriend (who became her ex-boyfriend, six months
into the adventure) as a twenty-first birthday present, and
due to spend nine days in Bali. Three months, and two
Visa extensions later (“I would have stayed even longer
- I fell in love with the people and place, the culture, the
craftsmanship of the people in Bali, it’s incredible! I was
blown away by it”), she was spending her last few days on
Dreamlands beach (which would be the name of a future
collection), where she saw a woman beading bracelets
while she sunbathed. ‘It was before charm bracelets were a
big thing, and I was just like, “WOW! I wanted to go home
and look like a traveller. I just thought, I want to do that,
I can do that.” Up until this point, Chloe didn’t have much
of a plan. Despite a love of Drama, Art and English, Chloe
wasn’t particularly academic and left school at 16, going
on to work for her father in the travel industry. But after
a stop-off in Bankok where she “bought loads of bits from
guys on the sides of the roads making jewellery”, she arrived
home to her mum and announced that she couldn’t work
in the resorts anymore, she was going to make jewellery.
“Luckily, I think because I was so passionate about it, my
parents believed in it. I went back to Bali two weeks later,
after being away for ten months, with my mum to find
a silversmith and materials… I was so determined, this is
what I wanted to do.”
When a brand suddenly comes into your periphery, it’s
can be a misconstrued view that they are an overnight
success. “I went travelling ten years ago, it takes a long
time! I remember going to parties and fairs - Christmas
fairs, standing there for three days and no-one buys a thing!
I started by making bracelets around my kitchen table. I
started selling them to my friends, I went to people’s houses
and held little parties [think ‘80s tupperware parties, but
considerably cooler], and it was literally word of mouth.”
Her big break came through Justine Mills, co-founder of
Liverpool designer clothing destination, Cricket. “I always
mention her, I owe so much to her. I was in Cricket with my
mum and she was like, “I love this, I believe in this Chloe. I’m
going to sell it for you.” She was my first shop. I remember
she was moving Roberto Cavalli off a shelf in a cabinet to
sell my bracelets! And she did this for a year for me, which
was my stepping stone. Obviously, if Justine is wearing it,
then Alex [Gerrard] will be wearing it, Colleen [Rooney] will
be wearing it, Jennifer Ellison, Sheree Murphy… Alex was
writing for OK magazine and Colleen was writing for Closer
then OK… that got me a North West following.”
The latest collection, Sundance, was inspired by the Burning
Man festival in the Black Rock City in the Nevada desert.
It was Chloe’s first time at the festival, which she attended
with her two best friends, travelling through San Francisco
and the desert in a camper van. “We stayed there for eight
days - it goes on for seven days but we weren’t ready to
leave! It was the BEST experience of my life, incredible…It’s
the people, and the place. I’ve never met so many loving
people, it was the best energy. Everyone just bounced off
2015 Summer | Issue 4 #INSPO 25