Who is Gabriela Hearst, Chloé's new chief designer?

The past five years have been on an upward trend for designer Gabriela Hearst. In 2015 she founded her eponymous fashion label, which quickly gained a solid following. Luxury conglomerate LVMH saw an opportunity and invested several millions in the brand in 2019 . Last fall, Hearst won the American Womenswear Designer of the Year Award and made her debut at Paris Fashion Week.

This week it was announced that Hearst will be appointed head designer at the celebrated luxury brand Chloé effective immediately. She is therefore the successor of former chief designer Natacha Ramsay-Levi, who departed last week. What characterizes Hearst's work, and what will she spark within Chloé?

From rural luxury to innovative and modern

Hearst (née Perezutti) worked as a model in her early years, but soon became motivated to design herself. With seven hundred dollars she started the label Candela in 2004, for which she made screen printed T-shirts with a print of a woman on a horse, based on a picture of her mother. In a few years there was a complete ready-to-wear collection: this one had a more luxurious, country look. On her online platform not only her own work was for sale, but also that of colleagues from South America, where Hearst comes from.

Hearst quit Candela after ten years, in her own words because she had to 'make too many compromises in terms of production'. In 2015 she re-entered the fashion business with a brand that bore her own name. The Gabriela Hearst label is more luxurious, modern and above all more focused on traditional techniques and innovative use of materials. For example, Hearst introduced a variant of linen that is processed with aloe vera, and she is known for her use of very fine merino wool. In a discussion of her resort collection 2017, Vogue editor Nicole Phelps described Gabriela Hearst as an 'American competitor for Hermès', the French luxury brand that also focuses on craftsmanship and innovation in materials.

Hearst's style is predominantly minimalist; sometimes businesslike, sometimes soft and flowing, with checks and stripes in vibrant colors. She is inspired by powerful women like Angela Davis, Oriana Fallaci, Kamala Harris and Tammy Duckworth, and can count women like Jill Biden, Oprah Winfrey and Queen Noor of Jordan among her clients. Since 2019, Gabriela Hearst also has a men's line, which includes many supple suits and hand-knitted sweaters.

Merino wool from her own farm

Gabriela Hearst's first runway show, in February 2017, communicated a clear message of sustainability. The show decor was decorated with recycled items, such as chairs from Hearst's own house. Plastic was banned from the show. Hearst has made looks from existing materials several times. This strong sustainability philosophy, Hearst explained in previous interviews, stems from the childhood she spent on a remote ranch in Uruguay, where she lived in close connection with nature.

Hearst inherited the ranch when her father passed away in 2011. Today, Hearst keeps sheep there and produces her own merino wool. The soft material has antibacterial properties and regulates body temperature. Although wool is often only used in winter collections, Hearst has repeatedly shown that merino wool is also fine in the summer, in the form of wafer-thin sweaters, for example. In 2017, this unique handling of the material earned Hearst an International Woolmark Prize .

With Chloé, Hearst shares a great love for the countryside and an Amazon-like aesthetic. Hearst may bring a portion of spunk and sobriety to the more romantic, sometimes almost girlish Chloé, as well as an exceptional eye for the possibilities of textiles. Perhaps Hearst will also bring her vision of luxury and sustainability to the fore at Chloé. With more and more major fashion brands setting ambitious sustainability goals, that would be a relevant step for Chloé.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.NL, translated and edited to English by Kelly Press.

Homepage image: Gabriela Hearst SS20, via Catwalk pictures