PFW: Gabriela Hearst’s Swan Song for Chloé

Born in Uruguay, Gabriela Hearst grew up on her family’s 17,000-acre ranch, Santa Isabel in Paysandu, surrounded by horses, cattle and sheep. At her final show for French luxuriate Chloé—and in a full circle moment—the designer paid tribute to her South American ranching heritage with not only an array of botanical-inspired saloon wear (give or take that Chloé romantic touch), but by dancing with Rio’s samba school, Mangueira, in a spectacle of utter and pure joy.

To begin, a stark white, one-shouldered gown with tiered, cascading ruffles gave the house’s atypical femininity a textured jolt (which continued to one standout dress with netting and floral appliqué). Well-tailored three-piece suits—buttoned to the neck ranch-style—were embellished with gold trimmings on their collars and sequinned belts buckles. A black trench, embroidered with silver, sat atop a flowing white dress (a house signature) and was styled with leather boots. And pops of colour arrived in a series of marigold gowns.

“Six months ago when we knew this was going to be my last Chloé show, I thought we need to bring Mangueira, and have a real carnival,” Hearst said. “And Paris isn’t going to know what’s hit them. We dressed them in their team colours, fuchsia and green, and they were so happy, they are actually going to use them for one of their competitions.”

Although she was only at Chloé for three years, Hearst more than made her mark. Well known in the industry for her stance on sustainability, the 46-year-old worked to improve the brand’s credibility in this space and, in 2021, the brand became the first major luxuriate to earn B Corp certification, a designation for companies that prove their commitment to having a positive environmental impact beyond creating value for shareholders.

In lieu of a sad and teary goodbye, we saw Hearst like we’d never seen her: in a studded bolero and black leather skirt lithely moving and shaking to the samba beat. Who ever said goodbyes had to be sad?

Here are some highlights, and you can watch the full show (with Hearst dancing) below:

This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.