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The Closet Digest By Vogue: Gabriela Hearst On The Story Behind Her Cult Bag That Comes Meghan-Approved

With A-list champions like Meghan Markle, Angelina Jolie and Amal Clooney, it’s no surprise that Gabriela Hearst’s Nina bag – named after Nina Simone – is the creation that she’s proudest of to date. “I started with shoes and ready-to-wear, and my friend told me, ‘You can’t be walking around with someone else’s bag,’” the designer tells The Closet Digest, BritishVogue’s podcast sponsored by Vinted, of the early days of her eponymous brand. “So I worked on this bag for myself; it was for no one else.”

A chance encounter withJony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, in the lift at Claridge’s encouraged her to put the bag – dubbed “the dumpling or cookie fortune bag” – into production. “He says, ‘If you do them, I want one for my wife,’” she recalls. “And he gives me [his] card and it’s Jony Ive from Apple. So I sent him the bag and he sent me the iPad Pro.”

Despite quickly earning cult status, Hearst – who was only going to make 25 to begin with – has only ever made the bags in limited quantities, in keeping with the designer’s eco-minded ethos. At one point, the waiting list for the Nina was 1,500-strong, with customers trying to bribe members of staff to get bumped up the list. “When every wholesaler in the world wanted the bag, I said no – the business could have been humongous,” she explains. “But I didn’t want to sell out because I needed to use that amount of natural resources to make the same amount of product, so I kept it for us [to sell direct to consumer].”

Hearst’s considered approach towards fashion expands across all areas of the industry, from the celebrities she chooses to dress to the stories she tells via her shows – including her fusion energy-inspired spring/summer 2022 collection for Chloé. “Fashion is an amazing vehicle for information and to cross-pollinate because everybody’s interested in fashion, everybody wants to go to a fashion show. I had all the fusion guys front row,” she says. “It’s great for that.”

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