Chipie : ‘For young moderns all over the world’ by Anthony Heslop

I was surprised to find out a few weeks ago that Chipie, a label that was popular during my misspent youth, was still going. Admittedly, for the last few years they’ve focussed upon kids clothing, but I had honestly thought they’d gone to the wall some time back. How this shocking revelation came about (shocking to me, anyway), was as the result of a chance eBay purchase that saw me become the owner of ten vintage Chipie t-shirts. This event then triggered my curiosity about what had happened to a label that I’d once loved…

Chipie was started in the late sixties in the city of Carcassonne in the South of France by a monsieur by the name of Jean-Michel Signoles, who was 17 at the time.  Initially, he customised clothes imported from the USA, but soon established his own manufacture.  The label focussed on youth fashion (the name means ‘mischievous’) and was heavily influenced by Ivy League and the style of young America.  Designs frequently featured stereotypical American sports, such as baseball and bowling, as you will see in some of the photographs that follow.  One aspect of the brand that stood it apart for others during this early period was the visible use of labelling and branding.  The Chipie label was often displayed externally on the garment or incorporated into its design, which was something rarely seen at the time.

By the late 70s, Chipie had become one of the most popular jeanswear brands in France and was soon exporting outside of the home country.  During the 80s, this expansion continued with the opening of shops and stockists throughout Europe. Chipie was one of a number of continental Jeanswear labels that became popular in the UK towards the end of the 80s.  Chevignon, Ciao, Naf – Naf, Sonneti, Replay and so many others.  It was adopted on the terraces and in the nightclubs of the cities of this fair nation, by the casuals and the groovers, who were often one and the same anyway.  The two pictures below show DJs Greg Fenton and Laurie Carter, both in Chipie t-shirts, taken in the Venus nightclub in Nottingham in 1990.

Chipie seemed ubiquitous at the time, if you moved in certain circles.  But fashion is a fickle mistress and soon we were all wearing leather waistcoats, John Richmond and Michiko, as the clubs got smarter and people dressed up in order to ‘keep the teds out’.  What bloody fools we were.  The shining star of Chipie, and many of the other continental Jeanswear labels, soon faded.  That said, many of the label’s contemporaries did not fare so well over time, chasing the mass market and becoming deeply naff (I’m looking at you, Chevignon), while Chipie seemed to gracefully fade from our high streets and our collective memories and so preserved some measure of ‘cool’.

It was probably that fact that created a great sense of nostalgia and resulted in hitting the ‘buy it now’ button on Ebay recently, some 20 years since I had last worn the label.  The ten t-shirts shown arrived a few days later.  You can see on each the strong American influence, as well as the attention to detail – the shirt with the flowers has embroidered flowers (not printed), the ‘Chipie Bowling Co’ is a fantastic multi-panel design.  These guys didn’t scrimp on quality or detail.  In a day and age where just about everyone seems to sport t-shirts that have a picture of a pair of vintage trainers on the chest, or alternatively a faux-Japanese logo (inexplicably saying random things like ‘Tokyo Laundry’) it’s good to remind ourselves of what real quality and thoughtful design is all about.

The story of the brand did continue.  In 1999, Jean-Michel Signoles cashed in his chips and Chipie became part of the Zannier fashion group.  By this time the company had more or less stopped making clothes for adults and was focussing on a new strategy as a kidswear label.

Thanks again to Tony for this kick in the nostalgias, check more of his excellent work here.

Check all the images from the above post in a handy gallery below: