Gabriela Hearst Named Creative Director At Chloé
The designer will also continue to run her own namesake label
Luxury French fashion house Chloé has announced the appointment of Gabriela Hearst as creative director, taking over from Natacha Ramsay-Levi, who revealed that she was stepping down from the role last week.
Hearst will take over creative control of the label immediately – and will present her first collection in March 2021, Chloé’s chief executive officer, Riccardo Bellini confirmed in a statement.
“It is with great pleasure that I welcome Gabriela Hearst to our Maison,” he said. “I have always admired her vibrant creative energy and exquisite sense of quality and craft. Her powerful vision of more responsible fashion truly embodies the values and sense of commitment of today’s Chloé women.”
Hearst will certainly help to strengthen Chloé’s sustainability credentials, something which has been a fundamental element of her eponymous label, which the designer will continue to head up alongside this new role.
“Gabriela is a forward-thinking woman and her creative leadership will be a positive force in further evolving and expanding our founder’s original vision of meaningful and powerful femininity,” Bellini added. “Together, we share the conviction that we all have a responsibility to actively participate in the shaping of a sustainable future and look forward to jointly pushing Chloé to new heights.”
Hearst has achieved great commercial and critical success with her sustainably-made and timeless designs – and, this September joined the Paris Fashion Week schedule with her label, having previously shown in New York since she founded Gabriela Hearst in 2015.
In taking the creative helm of Chloé, Hearst is following in the footsteps of a number of prestigious designers, including Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, Clare Waight Keller, Phoebe Philo and, most recently, Ramsay-Levi. However, Hearst is also making history as the first female designer with a multi-cultural heritage (she is from Uruguay and the United States) to take the helm of a Parisian fashion house.
“I am grateful for an opportunity at such a beloved brand as Chloé,” Hearst said. “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 [founder] Gaby Aghion.”
“I am excited for the opportunity to work under the leadership of 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.”
Written by Amy De Klerk
Lead image courtesy of Instagram/gabrielahearst