What Can We Expect From Gabriela Hearst at Chloé?

Related | Chloé Designer Natacha Ramsay-Levi Is Leaving After Nearly Four Years

Gabriela Hearst will be the seventh woman to join the ranks, succeeding former creative director Natacha Ramsay Levi who announced her departure last week. Hearst, a New York-based self-taught designer originally from Uruguay, has won several industry accolades (including the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year) and sold a minority stake in her business to LVMH last year.

So what can we expect from her Chloé tenure? On the accessories front, an entirely new range of leather goods are not out of the question, given that she already runs a strong handbag business — her sell-out Nina styles are a hit with Meghan Markle, for instance. It'll also be interesting to see how she interprets the French brand's feminine codes and whether she will imbue some of the more artisanal techniques she incorporates in her own line.

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"I am grateful for an opportunity at such a beloved brand as @chloe," said Hearst in a statement. "I am thankful to Natacha Ramsay-Levi and all the other extraordinary designers that have come before her and helped build on the purposeful vision of Gaby Aghion. I am excited for the opportunity to work under the leadership of [CEO] Riccardo Bellini and support him in his commitment to create a business that is socially conscious and in balance with our environment. I am also humbled to be able to work with the Chloé team to help execute this beautiful vision in creative and accountable ways."

She will no doubt bring her sustainability principles and purpose-driven model to the Richemont-owned brand (they also Alaïa and Dunhill), and it will curious to see how a larger company like Chloé implements the kind of sustainable efforts drawn from Hearst's much smaller label. We'll find out more when Hearst makes her debut at the house in March 2021.

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