The stars aligned for Gabriela Hearst in Paris today — or, rather, the clouds parted. For her first-ever show in Paris, the persistent rain of the past two weeks gave way to sunny skies, setting the tone for her strong collection. Rain or shine, nothing could have stopped CFDA’s 2020 Womenswear Designer of the Year award recipient from making her debut in the City of Lights.
“I’m here in a pandemic,” Hearst said, post-show. “I mean honestly, I never thought to postpone. You make plans, you dream of them, and even if you have to make adjustments, as long as they weren’t stopping us with a wall we couldn’t climb, we kept going.”
Presented in the little known courtyard of the l’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, the set came with a central fountain and vaulted marble floor corridors lined in statues. The vegetarian pre-show buffet, provided by Café Ineko, was inspired by Mediterranean recipes laced with Latin American delicacies, bringing a taste of Hearst’s native Uruguay to Paris.
But the food wasn’t the only treat: Spanish singing sensation Leiva serenaded the crowd with a live set as the models sauntered through the vaulted passageways showing a tightly edited collection of 30 looks. Hearst played with leather for looks that showed off gaucho culture references and artisanal craftsmanship by elevating crochet to new levels.
Beyond the complimentary and mandatory red silk masks, temperature checks at the door, and required hand gel application, showing here was a new, inspiring experience for the designer, especially the location which the eco-production team at Bureau Betak found for the occasion.
“The backstage was remarkable! You have to see it,” Hearst said. “It was one of the most beautiful rooms I have been in my life – sculptures, symbolism, and antiques….a beauty to the eyes, and that was just backstage!”
While the crowd was mostly devoid of her American industry colleagues, the lack of a hometown crowd did not dampen Hearst’s spirit, who ran to embrace not only the singer during her bow but, post show, also several close friends who stayed behind to congratulate the designer.
Throughout, her South American charm and her native country’s savoir-faire played a central role– whether intended or not. “It’s always there as a part of who I am and how I communicate. Sometimes it’s more amplified than others but isn’t going away,” she explained. “It’s a part of my DNA. My method of creating may help me learn about other things, but my own self always comes through.”
