A native of Uruguay with a passion for earthy glam and saving the earth, Gabriela Hearst may be this era’s consummate rich hippie. But she doesn’t just want to take.
In a year where there is a lot of conversation in the U.S. around America’s contribution to fashion, which will culminate in two upcoming exhibitions at Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute, Hearst wants to make sure that the contributions from her native South America, Central America and Mexico are not forgotten.
Not only those of big names like Oscar, Carolina and indeed Gabriela who made it in New York, but also of the (too often uncredited and appropriated) indigenous artisans and thinkers who have contributed their craftsmanship and design motifs to the canon of style.
“It’s a celebration and a reminder. I was just in Europe and I met with someone who said, ‘You’re from Colombia, right?’ I said, ‘No, Uruguay.’ He said, ‘It’s all the same.’ This is about breaking with that mentality and celebrating the cultures that exist on our continents,” Hearst said.
“For me, it’s very important we look at the Americas and the history of how we are creating garments because it’s been since the Industrial Revolution and more since World War II that the process of making clothes has industrialized itself to the point that the garments don’t look authentic anymore,” she continued. “To create realness, you have to pay attention to the ingredients and the craft. And I still feel quite far from where I want to be in developing this.”
