“My sustainable practice is exactly what the word is: it’s a practice,” the voice of Gabriela Hearst echoed over the opening scene of her resort collection video. “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 are what keeps me going through these times.”
The designer has been melding luxury with sustainability for quite some time, evidenced in resort with the brand’s widest offering yet: 60 per cent 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.
Hearst explained that feelings of gratitude and fortitude inspired the collection, which she translated into an array of impeccable tailoring and more fluid, artisanal offerings that emulated both a refined, utilitarian and equestrian feel, complemented by a look book and video shot on both the designer and her younger sister, Magdalena, riding horses.
There were black leather garments with intricate, laser-cut white leather panels inserted as a bustle, relaxed suiting with knot details, frocks that came both structured (in denim-looking linen) and fluid (in slips with lace repurposed from fall) and stellar dip-dye Scottish cashmere getups.
More newness for the season came through silhouettes that went much wider on the shoulder; a white linen frock with raw hem and voluminous, hand-pleated sleeves proved standout.
Overall, the collection felt purposely pared down from fall, but still incorporated refined artisanal and equestrian details such as blanket stitching on blazers, the adornment of small buckles and custom hardware on clothing and accessories including leather riding boots and very cool, one-shoulder saddlebags.