Chloé says goodbye to Gabriela Hearst
The news
After months of speculation, Chloé said its creative director, Gabriela Hearst, would be leaving the French fashion house after three years.
A statement released on Thursday confirmed that the collection of womenswear to be shown on September 28 during Paris Fashion Week will be her last for the brand.
Why it matters: Chloé wanted to become a beacon of sustainable fashion
Ms. Hearst, a Uruguayan-born designer of women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, founded her eponymous luxury label in New York in 2015 before joining Chloé in December 2020. Chloé is one of the few fashion houses owned by the luxury goods group Richemont, which has traditionally focused its primary growth ambitions on its jewelry brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, but has recently invested in its fashion labels, including Alaïa.
To many observers, the combination of Ms. Hearst and Chloé seemed like a smart match. The designer has long been a champion of improving transparency and sustainability standards in the industry. And in 2021, Chloé announced that it was the first luxury fashion house to achieve B Corp certification, which indicates how a company tries to work for social welfare and how it tries to make money. It seemed that the world’s wealthiest shoppers were getting a taste for ethical fashion at eye-watering prices. Made of knitted suede and recycled mesh, the Nama sneaker was a bestseller and according to CEO Riccardo Bellini, the brand has seen a 60 percent increase in sales in the past two years.
But rumors throughout 2023 indicated that Ms. Hearst and Chloé would part ways, in part because of the pressure placed on the designer by her transatlantic schedule. During her tenure, Ms. Hearst continued to run her New York-based business while running the Chloé design studio in Paris.
Background: Designer upheaval across the industry
Ms. Hearst’s departure follows the departure of many creative directors at all stages of their careers: Jeremy Scott of Moschino, Tom Ford of Tom Ford, Rhuigi Villaseñor of Bally and Ludovic de Saint Sernin of Ann Demeulemeester.
Most exits have their own specific triggers. But collectively, they underscore the accelerating churn among creative directors at fashion brands as impatient executives push for tremendous revenue growth on highly ambitious design and production schedules and an increasingly fickle consumer.
What’s Next: A successor seems to be waiting in the wings
In June, there were reports that Chemena Kamali, once women’s design director at Saint Laurent and most recently creative consultant at contemporary line Frame, had been tapped as Ms. Hearst’s successor. According to the reports, Ms. Kamali – who also worked at Chloé for a time under Clare Waight Keller – already had a parallel studio with Chloé as part of her preparations to take over the role.
Chloé declined to comment on when a successor to Ms Hearst would be announced.
“It has been the greatest privilege to share my creative vision and add my voice to Chloé’s story,” Ms Hearst said in the statement on Thursday. “I am grateful to have been part of the incredible team that has built a strong foundation for a purposeful future for fashion.”
Whether the house will maintain its recent expensive investments in leading the industry in designing, manufacturing and selling responsible fashion – or take a new direction – remains to be seen.