THE rumors had been going on for days. The designer Gabriela Hearst leave the guide of Chloé after three years in the role of creative director. The official announcement, Thursday July 6thdirectly from the top management of the Maison.
Gabriela Hearst’s latest collection for Chloé will be the Spring-Summer 2024presented on September 28, 2023 as part of Paris Fashion Week. What new challenges await you? And who will take his place? The full name is open: what is certain is that the fashion house has lost a key personality.
A divorce by mutual consent
“During her time at the creative helm of the Maison, Gabriela has played a defining and key role in guiding Chloé’s ongoing transformation into a mission-oriented company. Overseeing a period of sustained growth, her creative vision has evolved and she has expanded on founder Gaby Aghion’s feminine legacy,” reads the company’s statement regarding her departure.
Gabriela Hearst and Chloé, the story of a partnership in a green key
His debut at the helm dates back to March 2021, replacing then creative director Natacha Ramsay-Levy, formerly in the Louis Vuitton style office with Nicolas Ghesquière. Since then, the designer, born in 1976, who grew up on a family ranch in Uruguay, has tried to infuse her vision into the House of the Richemont group, based mainly on her commitment to sustainability. In fact, the designer founded a line of clothing and accessories that bears her name in 2015: a luxury womenswear and accessories label that focuses on quality raw materials, technological advancement and the invention of innovative fabrics. You challenges that you have constantly tried to incorporate even within the production of the French brand, making radical changes in green matters.
Gabriela Hearst closing the Chloé Fall-Winter 2023/2024 show (Photo: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images).
Thanks to her work at Chloé, the fashion house in 2021 managed to obtain the certification among the first B Corp. (Certified B Corporation), which certifies the use of certain standards to guarantee a positive impact on its employees, on society and on the environment, reconciling the economy and profit with ethics, sustainability and the well-being of workers. In the 2017the designer was also awarded the prestigious International Woolmark Prize.
The official statements of the Maison
“I would like to thank her warmly for bringing so much of herself to this mission: her passion, drive and values, and for her unwavering commitment to supporting the House’s significant progress in shaping a more responsible future,” he says. Richard Bellini, President and CEO of Chloé. To echo him Philip FortunatoCEO of Richemont Fashion & Accessories: «I congratulate Gabriela and her team for the vision and devotion they have brought to Chloé, for laying a solid foundation for future growth and for transforming it into an inspiring Maison in the field of sustainability in fashion”.
The question is only one: what is the reason for the decision to separate the roads? The motivation can be guessed from the official statements: the abandonment of the role provides for a “new creative commitment” for the designer, as Bellini says in the note. What kind, it is not yet known. And equally nothing is known yet about the future successor of Gabriela Hearst at Chloé: already in the month of June, the rumor began to circulate, never confirmed, that Chemena Kamaliformer designer for women’s ready-to-wear by Saint Laurentwas already leading the style office.
The words of Gabriela Hearst
More likely it will be some time before we find out who will be the new creative director of the Maison, who recently signed a collaboration with Angelina Jolie and her new brand Jolie atelier: a prêt-à-porter capsule with a sustainable imprint, which makes use of craftsmanship in order to do business in a more fair and supportive way.
“It has been a great privilege to share my creative vision and add my voice to the story of Chloé, an extraordinary Maison that I have always loved so much. I am grateful to have been part of the incredible team that has laid a solid foundation for a future that puts people and the environment first. Very few houses have such a strong history of women leaders who have each made their own unique contribution to the House (Phoebe Philo, Stella McCartney and Clare Waight Keller have passed in the history of the brand at the helm, Ed). I am satisfied with the work done by Chloé and, moreover, with leaving a clear message: that a woman can do practically anything, while having fun».
Her latest public appearance, at the 2023 Met Gala, surrounded by some of her prominent female fans: Maude Apatow, Olivia Wilde And Vanessa Kirbyglamorous and busy.
His future? It is not yet known. Surely, if it’s not rosy, it’s going to be… green.
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