“The main theme of Goddess symbolism is the mystery of birth and death and the renewal of life, not only human but all life on earth and indeed in the whole cosmos. The Goddess took her energy from the springs and wells, from the sun, moon and most earth… representing cyclical—not linear—mythical time.
In art this is manifested by the signs of dynamic motion: whirling and twisting spirals, winding and coiling snakes, circles, crescents, horns, sprouting seeds and shoots. The snake was a symbol of life-energy and regeneration, a most benevolent, not an evil, creature.
Black did not mean death or the underworld; it was the color of fertility, the color of damp caves and rich soil, of the womb of the Goddess where life begins.”
– Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, 1989
Imagine a world run by women—in which women decide their own destiny as well as ours: the destiny of our families, of our planet, of our bodies, of our souls.
This once was reality, said the late archeologist, anthropologist and mythologist Marija Gimbutas, whose lifetime of work continues to inspire Gabriela Hearst for Autumn Winter 2025. In Neolithic times, Gimbutas said, women were worshipped
as deities: Giver of Life, Wielder of Death, protectress, nourishment-giver, Fertility Goddess and Earth Mother.
“Professor Marija Gimbutas interpreted the spirals, zig zags, curving snake-like incisions as a symbolic “language” defining women in Old Europe as creative, life-giving and independent,” says Gimbutas’s former student, Ernestine S. Eslter, PhD, who later became her longtime associate at UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. “I look forward to seeing how Gabriela treats these motifs abstractly, allowing them, perhaps, to empower the wearer of her collection.”
Such motifs, including chevrons, spirals and sinuous lines are woven subtly throughout the Autumn Winter 2025 collection. Neolithic goddess figurines find their echo in a cashmere shearling coat that has been printed with black lines and a nappa dress featuring hand-sewn leather tubing in an anthropomorphic pattern. Silhouettes are strong and feminine.
The sacred snakes appear in multiple forms: as cashmere jacquard and a print for recycled denim, as hand-embroidered leather “scales,” and finally, literally, in seamlessly bonded python. The latter is sourced from Inversa, an Everglades-based program that captures invasive species encroaching on native wildlife and repurposes the skins.
High luxury, trompe l’oeil and artisanal techniques include shearling hand-braided to create a fisherman cableknit, knitted silk schappe that replicates fur and white nappa leather handwoven for a bomber-style top and skirt. Handwoven cashmere from the craftswomen of Manos del Uruguay is used in a dress. Repurposed vintage mink was unstitched and then painstakingly reassembled by hand in a family-run atelier using classical intarsia techniques to create a one-of-a-kind coat, jacket, and stole. One-ofa-kind vintage bags were updated with new details by the Gabriela Hearst atelier, including exotic skins, straps and hardware.
New handbags joining the Gabriela Hearst family include the Marija, a folded tote in shearling, suede and nappa leather, the Hobo bag in snake-inspired scales and golden suede, and the Amethyst, with links that echo the house’s signature jewelry.
The recently introduced Ohio sneaker features the focus on quality, craftsmanship and sustainability that is the foundational ethos of Gabriela Hearst. 100% of the leather used for the Ohio is sourced from a tannery certified by the Leather Working Group, while the sole is assembled using water-based glue, which uses fewer chemicals than solvent-based glue and is free from polyurethane. The rubber soles are composed of 30% recycled materials, with colored speckles that precisely match the signature Gabriela Hearst knits, as well as the colors throughout the Autumn Winter 2025 collection. These hues were inspired by pigments, originally gifted to Gabriela by filmmaker Clara Cullen, that are used for Spanish traditional housepaints.
“This collection feels sophisticated and raw,” says Hearst, “And nothing is more sophisticated and raw than nature itself.”