Gabriela Hearst: Do I want to date this guy? That’s my design process for men

Gabriela Hearst approaches life with the determination of an Olympic athlete. I make sure I get eight hours of sleep a day. I live like a monk. I wake up, I work, I exercise four to five times a week. I used my Ura Ring and Lumen to measure my mitochondria. I have three months of full physical examination. It’s really about making sure that my body is in full performance. The designers cut Swiss-sounding Uruguayan consonants via Zoom. That’s very difficult. I wouldn’t say it’s easy. But I’m a middle-aged woman, you know, I have to.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Hearst applies such assertiveness to his daily life, given that, in addition to being the owner and creative director of his eponymous brand, which manufactures men’s and women’s clothing, he was also appointed lead designer at Parisian storied fashion house Chloe last year. then. I feel very alive with my work, with my family and children too, of course, he reciprocated, but I feel very alive in my work.

Hearst spoke to me from the headquarters of the namesake brand in New York, which occupies an office space in Chelsea, right next to the High Line. Before we sat down to chat, he gave me a tour of the swirling and slightly nauseous room (Hearst used his phone instead of his computer for our calls), which was bisected by a series of wood-paneled windows.

On one side of the transparent wall is his office and on the other, his design studio, where a handful of designers and makers are littering with blobs of fabric swatches and bits of tailor’s chalk. HQ seems, from my pixelated perspective, every bit of Hearst’s creations all reclaimed wood floorboards, medieval teak furniture and tome art shelves. I even have a bed in the office, he tells me, sitting on what looks like a Mies van der Rohe daybed, upholstered in plush beige, for when I work late.

Hearst founded the Gabriela Hearst brand in 2014. The women’s clothing collection that made her name quickly became loved by a certain strata of women who live easily and crave quality with money to burn. Indeed, Hearsts’ immaculately designed day dress and poncho-style cashmere scarf (which retails for over 2,000 a pop) fill a very specific hole in the world of womenswear, offering expertly crafted, comfort-focused outfits with tightly tailored edges. .