In this special episode of WWD Voices, WWD’s West Coast executive editor Booth Moore interviewed Gabriela Hearst, founder and creative director of Gabriela Hearst, on the mainstage at the fourth annual WWD x FN X Beauty Inc Women in Power event in New York, on putting women’s empowerment at the heart of Hearst’s namesake brand.
Inspired by her mother, who competed in rodeos in rural Uruguay and always challenged the status of what a woman should be, as well as myriad historical figures, Hearst ensures that women’s empowerment is reflected in all her collections.
“I have a true love for women and the biggest compliment I get is when a woman says to me, ‘I had this meeting and I felt so good in your suit,’” said Hearst. “It’s the most empowering part to me. There’s an armor for this woman of action.”
Each collection, for example, is inspired by a particular woman, from Surrealist artist Leonora Harrington to pioneering Irish artist, architect and furniture designer Eileen Gray. Most recently, she has been studying Marija Gimbutas, a Lithuanian archaeologist and anthropologist.
“They come to me and I study them and I’m fascinated and they all have these correlations of, they see a path and they go for it,” explained Hearst. “Marija Gimbutas confronted the whole archaeological establishment on what the thought process was at the time. They’re out-of-the-box thinkers. I like to call them ‘witches’ in quotes but they’re really women in power.”
Women’s empowerment, as well as Hearst’s passion for sustainability, impacts the way her clothes are made. She often taps communities in her native Uruguay, as well as Bolivia, for projects. Hearst explained that these practices are needed in the world today. In Bolivia, she collaborates with Madres y Artesanas, and while it is no easy task to ship the clothes to Paris, where she is showing this season, the women’s personal stories mean it is important to do so for Hearst.
During the conversation, Hearst also shared a behind-the-scenes perspective on the dress that she designed for actress Gillian Anderson to wear at the Golden Globes in January of this year. Now known as the “vagina dress,” the design importantly shows an example of sex positivity.
“I did ovaries in a sweater, so I felt confident to tackle women’s genitalia, and it looks like flowers in my mind. It was all embroidered in New York. Each flower took 3.5 hours to make. I was a little nervous about it because it’s a thin line, but she’s an example of sex positivity and she commands it and she’s an incredible talent that I shouldn’t have been nervous as all. She carried on and it reached everywhere. I got a Whatsapp from everywhere in the world. The vagina dress. I’ll be known for the vagina dress.”
To listen to the episode, CLICK HERE.
