Gabriela Hearst S/S 2020 New York Fashion Week Women

Gabriela Hearst S/S 2020.

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Team work: It's always a chic, sustainability-minded affair at Gabriela Hearst. Since launching her label in 2015, the designer has made efforts to produce shows with as little environmental wastage as possible. At her A/W 2017 show, guests sat on cashmere pillows knitting made using recycled yarn by the collective Manos del Uruguay, in Hearst's home country. Hearst went one further for S/S 2020 by staging an entirely carbon neutral fashion show - an industry first. Working with EcoAct and show producers Bureau Betak, Hearst ensured that every necessary aspect of the event's production, design and installation was assessed to minimise its carbon footprint. The price of offsetting the amount will be donated to the Hifadhi-Livelihoods Project in the Embu and Thraka Nithi counties in Kenya, providing cookstoves to the communities where energy is limited.

Mood board: Exploring the theme of courage, on the daily and extraordinary scales, Hearst looked to past, present and mythical figures, like Josephine Baker, the Greek goddess Athena and the female Kurdish militia fighters, who have displayed acts of bravery. Translated into ivory silk trenchcoats, military shirtdresses, belts and sandals embellished with geodes and nappa leather boxer pants, there was a underlying current of electricity rippling through the elegant collection.

Best in show: Fittingly, this was also the most artisanally driven collection for Hearst to date. Entirely handcrafted, the collection's abundance of hand knotted details, pin tuck stitching, hand fringed leather trims, geodes hand crocheted onto necklines and macrame brought with it a heartfelt connection. Particularly eye catching was a fringed skirt and dress made from tubes of printed silk twill fabrics, repurposed from season's past.

Gabriela Hearst S/S 2020.

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Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.