“My sustainable practice is exactly what the word is: it’s a practice. There’s no one in the world that’s doing it perfectly, no one. I will never be perfect but you have to start, you don’t have an option. I cannot, with the consciousness that I have, be on the sidelines so I think that gratitude and humbleness of knowing that you don’t know so much is what keeps me going through these times.”
Gabriela Hearst resort 2021.
Hearst’s modus operandi is to prove the mutual compatibility of luxury and sustainability, the thinking being that the more you normalize the likes of repurposed silk cotton voile and recycled stretch polyester, the more you problematize materials such as standard issue cotton and polyester, which require obscene amounts of water to grow, and virgin plastic to manufacture, repsectively. That said, there’s nothing normal in the least about Hearst’s materials. You need only brush your hand against the multi-ply of her handknit cashmere sweaters, this season with new bell sleeves, or take a longing glance at the fiery tie-dyed cashmere flannel of a sharply cut jacket.”
By Nicole Phelps
The designer has been melding luxury with sustainability for quite some time, evidenced in resort with the brand’s widest offering yet: 60 percent of the collection is made of deadstock materials including recycled cashmere, silks, polyesters and cotton voiles, repurposed linen denim, tweeds and Japanese deadstock denim, to name a few. Additionally, having pre-purchased materials, Hearst explained her team was in a good position when the pandemic happened, enabling them to design a robust collection of fresh ideas in a season when many designers are either opting out or focusing on wardrobe essentials.
By Emily Mercer
