Gabriela Hearst

The Nina is positioned as conscious, artisanal luxury, made in limited quantities, which is a large part of the cost. Named after Nina Simone, it began as a limited edition of just 20 that Hearst gave to women she admired, and by 2017 it already carried a long waiting list. The brand's whole pricing argument is that high cost reflects the true price of fine materials, skilled labour and long product life rather than logo prestige.

The comparison is one the brand has earned in the press. Gabriela Hearst has been described as an American competitor to Hermès for its high quality and fine use of garments, with its bags' rarity and collectability likened to that of a Birkin. The difference is the angle: Hearst frames lasting, lifetime-quality luxury through an explicit sustainability lens rather than pure heritage prestige.

Sustainability is central rather than a marketing add-on. The label has racked up firsts: the first brand to introduce TIPA compostable bio-plastics for all its packaging, and the first to stage a carbon-neutral fashion show, for spring/summer 2020. It also uses wool from Hearst's own sheep farm in Uruguay for an end-to-end production cycle. As with any house, independent ratings can be mixed, but the commitment runs through the business.

Gabriela Hearst is a Uruguayan fashion designer, born in 1976 in Paysandú, who is the founder and creative director of her eponymous label. She grew up on her family's 17,000-acre ranch, "Santa Isabel," steeped in livestock and wool production, a background that still feeds into her use of merino and her sustainability focus. She launched her own brand in fall 2015.

Yes. She was named creative director of Chloé in December 2020 and held the role until 2023, becoming the first Latin American to lead the Paris house. Her debut collection honoured founder Gaby Aghion in the brand's centenary year and leaned hard into sustainability, including reissuing the iconic Edith bag by repurposing 50 vintage bags bought on eBay. Her final Chloé show was on 28 September 2023.

Beyond her own ready-to-wear and accessories, she is known for marrying luxury with sustainability and for some high-profile moments. She designed the ivory dress First Lady Jill Biden wore to the 2021 presidential inauguration, embroidered with the flowers of all 50 states and D.C. as a message of unity; that ensemble later joined the Smithsonian's First Ladies Collection. Her signature bags, the Nina and Demi, are also a calling card.

Quality fabrics are a hallmark, often sourced with sustainability in mind. The collections have used ultra-fine 14.5 micron merino wool, aloe-treated linen that softens and moisturises, and even an anti-radiation fabric introduced as jacket-pocket lining in Resort 2017. Much of the wool comes from the designer's own Uruguay ranch, reinforcing the end-to-end, traceable approach she is known for.

Yes. In January 2019, LVMH Luxury Ventures, the French group's fund for supporting "already iconic" emerging brands, invested in Gabriela Hearst to help the label expand globally. Notably, it was the fund's first investment in a creative label since its 2017 creation, a strong signal of how the industry views the brand's trajectory.

The brand is sold at more than 50 retailers across several countries, including Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges and Le Bon Marché, alongside its own flagships. The first flagship opened on Madison Avenue in New York in November 2018, followed by a Mayfair store in London designed with architect Norman Foster, and a Beverly Hills flagship on Wilshire Boulevard in 2023. The stores themselves are built to the brand's sustainability standards.

Before the eponymous house, she started a label called Candela in Brooklyn in 2004, with just $700. The early collection featured T-shirts silk-screened with a winged woman riding a horse, an image based on a photo of her mother, before expanding into ready-to-wear and shoes. She launched her own-name brand more than a decade later, in fall 2015.