DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: GABRIELA HEARST
Gabriela Hearst is a luxury designer with a skill for tailoring who places great value on timeless designs and has an unyielding commitment to sustainability. She has quietly made an impact in recent years by continuously pushing the boundaries of what contemporary wear now looks like on the fashion conscious yet sophisticated consumer.
Born in Uruguay, Gabriela grew up on a 17,000-acre ranch surrounded by nature and natural materials. This upbringing helped her create her ubiquitous fashion brand bringing together the natural elements into high-fashion luxury wear. She coined the term “honest luxury” with her conscious effort in creating garments with consideration to nature and to the wearer. These pieces fortify the concept of slow-fashion with more care and thoughtfulness in every stitch.
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With a conscious initiative in mind, Gabriela Hearst has created jackets lined with special silver fabric to prevent radiation from reaching women’s reproductive organs. She has also lined her clothing with Aloe-treated linen to provide women with additional nutritional values. She pushed for opting out of traditional plastic packaging for Tipa Compostable Bags, an alternative to traditional plastic packaging that completely composts within 6 months. Gabriela Hearst continues to keep sustainability at the forefront in every product made while being uncompromising on quality. This clothing line is not just made for a season, it’s made for a lifetime and Gabriela wants you to know that.
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The creation of such unique and eco-friendly clothing has also garnered this fashion designer prestigious awards including: 2016/17 International Prize for Womenswear Award and the 2018 Pratt Institute Fashion Visionary Award. She was also nominated for the 2017 CFDA Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent and the 2018 CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year Award.
Four years into the launch of Gabriela Hearst, LVMH took an interest and invested a minority stake making Gabriela Hearst the second American-owned luxury fashion brand to ever be invested in by LVMH; Marc Jacobs being the first.
In 2019, all proceeds from her flagship stores went to Save the Children to support child nutrition and relief efforts in Yemen. The following year in 2020, Gabriela Hearst produced the first ever carbon neutral runway show and a donation was made in each guest's name to a children's charity called Our Children’s Trust.
Her 2020 collection took the brand even further by continuing her sustainability initiative while maintaining quality. She used remnants of Turkish rugs and reconstructed them into outerwear and repurposed previous collections with the reconstructed material.
That same year, the British Fashion Council awarded her the Environment Honoree Award for her being an innovator in the sustainable front and in 2021 she was awarded The Frank Alvah Parsons Award for Sustainability.
After receiving multiple accolades and praise from the fashion world, she was named the Creative Director of Chloe in 2021. From Gaby Aghion, the founder of Chloe to Gabriela Hearst, Chloe took a turn for the sustainable with appointing Gabriela Hearst as their Creative Directive creating forward-thinking and inventive ways to promote her eco-friendly 2021 debut collection. Recycled cashmere ponchos and dresses in superfine wool gauze grazed the runway informing its audience of what this collection means to the eponymous designer and creative director — being purposeful and intentional.
Gabriela Hearst has set the standard and exceeded expectations with purpose in mind. She continues to wow audiences globally and proves that sustainability and quality are the guiding force to her creations.