The latest development in the Creative Director Exodus of the past year? Gabriela Hearst has just announced that she will officially be leaving French fashion house Chloé, after nearly three years with the brand.
Hearst, who joined Chloé in 2020 after finding success with her own eponymous brand, has been praised for making strides in sustainability during her time at the fashion house. She brought the label up to B Corp certified status in 2021, essentially the gold standard of substainable practices, making Chloé the first luxury fashion house of its kind to achieve this accreditation.
And her numbers have been healthy too, despite enduring a brief dip in estimated annual sales in 2021 following the impact of the pandemic, Hearst will be exiting the company on a high, with 2023 estimates surpassing €600m.
Celebrities including Gillian Anderson, Katie Holmes, Jemima Kirke, Uma Thurman, Serena Williams and Chloë Sevigny, have all proved devoted fans of Hearst’s Chloé. For instace, over her tenure, Hearst introduced the world to the low-impact Nama sneakers (now a bestseller) and the Gayia glasses, which are made with recycled acetate. She also spearheaded a series of successful collaborations with brands such as Moon Boot, Teva, Barbour and Eres.
Even from Hearst’s first collection, she was laying out a sustainable vision for the fashion house: her debut included recycled cashmere and wool knitwear, reworked vintage handbags, and puffers crafted in collaboration with Sheltersuit, a nonprofit providing shelter for the homeless, using excess Chloé textiles. In this one collection, Hearst managed to reduce Chloe’s carbon footprint by 400 per cent, in comparison with the collection beforehand.
I feel empowered and excited about the work done at Chloé and moreover, to leave a clear message that a woman can do it all and have fun while at it
But Hearst’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection, presented during Paris Fashion Week this September, will be her last for the brand. In a statement from Riccardo Bellini, President and CEO of Chloé, the business leader thanks Hearst for her “great energy and a dynamic creative vision” but wishes her success with her “next creative endeavour.” What that endeavour will be remains to be seen.
In another statement, Hearst said of her departure: “It has been the greatest privilege to share my creative vision and to add my voice to the story of Chloé, a remarkable Maison that I have always loved so dearly.
“I am grateful to have been part of the incredible team laying strong foundations for a purpose-driven future for fashion, and I am so proud of the positive change we have collectively achieved in developing a business and design perspective that puts our people and our environment first.”
She continues: “Very few houses have such a history of strong female leaders who have each made their unique contribution to the Maison, under the inspirational legacy of its founder Gaby Aghion. I represent a standard for quality that has no space for compromise and I believe in honoring the interconnectivity that we all belong to. I feel empowered and excited about the work done at Chloé and moreover, to leave a clear message that a woman can do it all and have fun while at it.”
