On a Zoom call Gabriela Hearst shared a snapshot of her father on a rare trip to Manhattan. Hearst’s dad was an Uruguayan rancher and he turned up in a favorite poncho. “A gaucho in New York,” she said proudly. The picture was the starting point for her latest men’s outing. Since she added the collection to her repertoire two years ago she’s made luxurious, often sustainable fabrics its selling point; dudes dig recycled cashmere too.
The ruanas mark a shift—an embrace of the bold gesture. That photo is more than a decade old, but a guy walking down the street today with his ruana flung over his shoulder would look just as striking as Hearst’s father did back when, maybe more so considering our moment is so defined by puffer jackets and sweats. It’ll be interesting to see how she develops that silhouette—and her instinct for audacity—going forward.
Elsewhere, Hearst was as attentive to fabric choices as ever. A deadstock black-and-white micro check wool she used for a single-breasted suit was hand-embroidered with little dots for added flair, while another wool suit was naturally flecked in the weaving process, then paired with a flecked sweater to match. Her color sense is also sharp. A navy turtleneck and burgundy trousers were topped by a cherry red lumberjack shirt. That shirt is the anti-ruana—conventional, even—but in recycled cashmere felt it was as elevated as the rest of the lineup.
