Gabriela Hearst Is Leading The Charge For A Carbon-Neutral Future

Fashion designer Gabriela Hearst is leading the charge for a carbon-neutral future

- Lydia Slater

Even on a blurry screen some 5,600km away in her Manhattan office, Gabriela Hearst’s loose-knit white pullover and accompanying fringed wrap appear to be constructed from wisps of airy cumulus clouds that float over her rangy frame. “It’s the softest cashmere you will ever touch,” the designer confirms. “I say this with all humbleness, but we make the most beautiful things!”

Since Hearst founded her eponymous company in 2015, she has been showered with accolades, most recently at the 2020 Fashion Awards, while her discreetly elegant suits and sculptural bags are seen on style setters from Nicole Kidman to the Duchess of Sussex and the new First Lady, Jill Biden. But these accomplishments are not what motivate the designer. Boutique though her label still is, it has become an industry pioneer in luxury sustainability, leading the way for bigger brands to follow. “I’m proud of a lot of what we do, because we’re such a small team and we achieve things that nobody has done before,” she says.

Hearst’s innovations are legion: Her first runway show in 2017 had a no-plastic policy, guests sat on her own domestic furniture and she showed several sets of clothes made with repurposed materials. “I was using a high-end mill that was appalled when I said the word ‘deadstock’,” she recalls. “Now, they are sending me all of theirs! It’s about changing the mentality. I’m so excited when I see it becoming the norm.”