1976
Gabriela is born in Uruguay to a 6th generation family of ranchers.
2003
After moving to New York, Gabriela launches Candela, a contemporary clothing label.
2012
Gabriela becomes a member of the CFDA.
2015
Gabriela Hearst launches its first womenswear collection for Fall/ Winter with two main values: Long Term view and Sustainability.
A brand that reflects a slower pace and process. Where tradition influences more than trend, where there is a purpose to every piece, where it’s all in the details. “I wanted to create a brand that had that feeling of things that are well made and long lasting.”
The company begins a partnership with Manos del Uruguay, a 50 year old non-profit women’s cooperative that empowers the rural women who are in charge of the production of Gabriela Hearst hand-knits.
2016
Gabriela Hearst introduces Handbags. In the interest of maintaining her values of sustainability, she decides to produce the bags in limited quantities and available via request only.
Gabriela wins the 2016/17 International Woolmark Prize USA.
2017
In January, Gabriela wins the 2016/17 Womenswear International Woolmark Prize.
Gabriela Hearst presents its first runway show using about 30% deadstock fabrics, eliminating the use of plastic from both Front and Back-Of-House and repurposing all the elements of the show.
The company introduces TIPA flexible packaging, which offers bio-based alternatives to traditional plastic packaging that are fully compostable within six months.
Gabriela Hearst introduce a silver plated fabric in the interior pockets of jackets and coats which adds both antimicrobial and radio wave shielding properties.
For the Resort 18 collection, a brand new fabrication is introduced: aloe-treated linen, a much more complete fiber than cotton because it absorbs less water as a crop and at the same time, its flax seed can be used for nutritional value.
In July, upon learning that east Africa was facing its worst drought in 70 years putting 20 Million people at risk of famine, Gabriela visited rural Turkana County, Kenya, with Save the Children as part of the global response efforts. After witnessing the unfairness of climate change firsthand with mass screening for malnutrition, water scarcity, complete loss of animal stock, a currency and a source for vital survival, Gabriela Hearst pledges $600K which were the funds needed to cover the needs of 1,000 families in the area she visited. So for the first time ever, over a single week, the handbags were available to purchase with its retail partners Net-A-Porter and Bergdorf Goodman. The money was raised in 2 days.
2018
In February, Gabriela Hearst opens its Paris showroom at 1 Avenue Montaigne.
In April, on Earth Day, Gabriela makes a commitment to eliminate plastic for front and back of house, and replace it with compostable packaging that disintegrates in 6 months vs. 500 years.
In May, Gabriela receives the Pratt’s Fashion Visionary Award for her commitment to sustainability.
For the Spring Summer 2019 collection, Gabriela Hearst introduces piqué and twill suits spun from the wool of her family’s six-generation merino sheep farm in Uruguay. This process took a year and a half to execute and introduced vertical integration.
In September, Gabriela Hearst is appointed to the Save the Children’s Board of Trustees.
In November, Gabriela Hearst opens its flagship store at 985 Madison Avenue in New York. The store was built with a conscientious approach, without the use of synthetics or chemicals, using natural, non-treated reclaimed oak, built-in light occupancy sensors throughout the space to reduce electrical consumption and a filtered water fountain that eliminates the need for plastic bottles. 90% of the material waste generated during construction was recycled.
2019
LVMH Luxury Ventures takes a minority stake in Gabriela Hearst.
In April, Gabriela Hearst achieves the goal of being plastic-free in both front and back of house, with the use of compostable TIPA packaging and recycled cardboard hangers.
In June, Gabriela Hearst launches its debut Menswear collection at Mr. Porter, Bergdorf Goodman and its own retail stores.
Gabriela Hearst relaunches its website.
In August, Gabriela Hearst opens its London store in Mayfair, at 59 Brook Street, designed by Norman Foster and sustainably built. The herringbone oak parquet floor is made from wood reclaimed from former officers’ mess hall at the Copthorne Barracks in Shrewsbury, England, which was demolished in 2018. Each piece had to be painstakingly cleaned, painted and laid by hand. The custom Benchmark furniture was made in Hungerford from a London plane tree that fell in a recent storm in Lincoln. The leather was dyed using non-toxic vegetable dyes, and the curtains are linen rather than cotton. Simultaneously, Gabriela Hearst opens a shop-in-shop at Harrods, also designed by Norman Foster.
In September, for the Spring Summer 2020 collection shown in New York, Gabriela Hearst produces the first ever carbon neutral runway show. A donation was made in each guest’s name to Our Children’s Trust, the nonprofit organization that has filed lawsuits on behalf of youth plaintiffs against governments, arguing that they are infringing on the children’s rights to a stable climate system.
In December, from the 2nd to the 9th, Gabriela Hearst donated 100% of net proceeds from all products in its flagship stores and gabrielahearst.com (including the handbags, which are usually via request only) to Save the Children to support child nutrition and relief efforts in Yemen.
2020
Gabriela Hearst’s Diana Bag will be featured in the upcoming exhibition “Bags Inside Out” which will run at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London from April 25 2020 until January 31 2021.
In Q4, Gabriela Hearst plans to open a shop-in-shop in Los Angeles.
Gabriela Hearst sets a goal to use 50% non-virgin materials by 2020.
