Chloe Stewart studied textiles at the University of Leeds, specialising in knitwear and embroidery. She moved to London to work for sustainable designer Phoebe English, who specialises in a slow fashion. After some time with Phoebe, she worked with the editorial styling teams at Vogue, Harper Bazaar and Harrods magazine, which then led her into the world of celebrity styling assisting stylist Nicky Yates.  

She spent five years working with Nicky, marvelling at the lavish detailing of couture gowns destined for the red carpet, and for a photograph which could never do justice to the intricacies of design and stitching. This gave her a love of exquisite craftsmanship, and when COVID-19 hit, and events and photoshoots were cancelled, Chloe used the time to hone her embroidery techniques. 

In quarantine in the depths of Suffolk, she started her new career by launching a range of brightly coloured t-shirts, featuring hand-stitched motifs inspired by Matisse and Picasso. This soon developed into a custom embroidery business creating bespoke shoes, jackets and napkins for customers with personalised designs.

 Kenya had always played a huge role in Chloe's life, so when she got the itch to move out of London, it could only be to Nairobi. As soon as she moved, she saw an opportunity to take her embroidery further than the embroidery itself. She launched Chloe Stewart Collective in 2024, and now she teaches hand embroidery to women in the low-income Soweto settlement in Kayole, aiming to provide them with job opportunities and improve their lives one stitch at a time.