Designed in collaboration between Gabriela and the world’s leading architect Lord Norman Foster, the store represents an escalation and elevation of the brand’s commitment to sustainable design. “The main two directions I gave Foster + Partners was that first and foremost it has to be the most sustainable store ever made and it also has to be an evolution not a revolution from the New York store.”

The similarities begin with the London store’s location at 59 Brook Street. Just as the New York boutique is adjacent to the Carlyle Hotel, the Mayfair store, which occupies a corner of a late‐19th century building, is directly across the street from the iconic Claridge’s Hotel. “I see what we do as service,” says Gabriela. “Our woman is a dynamic woman, who doesn’t have time to think too much about clothes. Being in front of a hotel like that reminds everyone what high service is.”

For the store’s interiors, Gabriela worked with Foster + Partners to take the groundwork laid in the New York store to the next level. The mood is light, serene and comfortable. The fixtures are done in similar blond wood, marble, ivory leather and cashmere wool to the New York store with subtle design adjustments. For example, the sharp corners of rectangular tables, hanging units and even the Art Deco moldings around the ceiling have been rounded “because in nature there are no rectangular edges,” says Gabriela. The custom Benchmark furniture has been made in Hungerford from a London plane tree that fell in a recent storm in Lincoln. The herringbone oak parquet floor is made from wood reclaimed from former officers’ mess hall at the Copthorne Barracks in Shrewsbury, England, which was demolished in 2018. Each piece had to be painstakingly cleaned, painted and laid by hand. The lights are on automatic dimmers. The leather has been dyed using non-toxic vegetable dyes, and the curtains are linen rather than cotton.

To tie back to the military flooring, there are porcelain soldiers and military drums sourced from a London antique store. Tying back to Gabriela Hearst’s American equestrian roots, a painting by Big Spring, a Blackfoot warrior from the South Piegan Native American tribe, hangs on the wall. Titled War Record and dating to 1915, it depicts horses in red, yellow and blue.

Gabriela Hearst’s London store is two floors and roughly 2,000 square feet. It houses her women’s, men’s, accessories and jewelry collections. The lower level features a seating area that can accommodate private client appointments, and will feature a selection of oils by Francisco Costa’s new beauty brand Costa Brazil.

The building itself was designed according to principles that echo Gabriela’s philosophy. The Queen Anne Style building was erected in the late 1800s by Sir Robert William Edis, a proponent of the Aesthetic movement, who believed well-‐ designed interiors promoted physical health and mental wellbeing. Edis’ original Dutch gables, red brick and chimney stacks are intact, representing his philosophy valuing classic design over temporary and authenticity and celebration of raw materials, a philosophy that Gabriela shares and continues to champion.