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Gabriela Hearst
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In Search For Renaissance. Chloé AW23
As usual in case of Gabriela Hearst‘s vision at Chloé, sustainability is the ultimate priority. She’s an expert on scientific progress, political initiatives, knows how to effectively replace environmentally damaging fabrics with better solutions, and she’s also a long-term supporter of many NGOs. She manages to pack all that ambition into her designs for the French brand and her eponymous, New York-based line. Sometimes, at an expense of the creative side of her work. The autumn-winter 2023 collection was, however, a bit more daring in terms of the “fashion”. Hearst found a muse, and that is Artemisia Gentileschi, the Renaissance painter. However, don’t expect baroque costumes. There was instead a lot of shearling and leather (the by-products of meat), fine-gauge lacy knits, and the ponchos. The vaguely medieval-inspired vertical strips of leather in yellow, black and white, and the harlequin pattern that emerged toward the end of the show, was a distant interpretation of the Gentileschi theme. “I like it that nothing is gimmicky. They’re not clothes for Instagram,” Hearst quipped. “I’m tired of working for Zuckerberg all the time – like, where’s my check?” I get her point, but… The Row, Lemaire and Hed Mayner are also brands that offer a non-gimmicky look, but this doesn’t mean their collections are that plain-looking. The best look from the Chloé show was a dress with vivid patchwork embroidery in the craft style of “Central America”. Sadly, Hearst just dropped that idea in the middle of the show, without expanding on it. And that that was actually a Chloé-kind-of look: feminine, a bit quirky, intriguing. The designer should try a more spontaneous, laid-back, less-serious approach in her creative process.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Classics & Basics. Gabriela Hearst AW23
Gabriela Hearst stays in her comfy zone of classics and basics. With long sleeves, high necklines, and midi lengths, the designer’s dresses are the soul of discretion. This season’s version is colorblocked in squares of red, yellow, and black bordered by white. The motif was inspired by Eileen Gray, an early 20th-century architect and furniture designer who was often overshadowed by her male peers. Hearst tends to nominate under-recognized women as seasonal muses – Gray spent her last 30 years living a quiet life. Then, decades after her death a chair of her design that belonged to Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé sold for $28 million, the highest price ever fetched for a piece of modern furniture. There was a real connection between Gray’s vocabulary and Hearst’s today. The furniture designer’s lacquered wood screens provided the template for bags made from interlocking squares of leather. And a famous photo of Le Corbusier in the buff at Gray’s house E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a large scar visible on his thigh, suggested the scarring effect seen on leather pieces. The slits cut into a burgundy trench flashed Mediterranean blue, while the ones on the burgundy strapless dress were fiery red. A pair of understated finale dresses with cut-outs on the sides from which metal panniers peeked out seemed to nod towards the chrome Gray used in her adjustable E-1027 table. She was the first to use the material, beating both Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe to the punch. Hearst was gesturing toward timelessness with this collection, which at moments felt simply… boring. It was rounded out with the minimal tailoring and robust cashmere knits for women and men that she’s known for, and a new collaboration with Tricker’s, the British shoemaker established in 1829. They’ll look smart with those knit midi dresses.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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