In the heart of Brooklyn, at the Agger Fish Building, Gabriela Hearst‘s Fall 2024 collection emerged as a beacon of modern surrealism, weaving a tapestry of luxury, craftsmanship, and a profound narrative that speaks to the zeitgeist of our time. The fashion luminaries, stepping in from the cold, were welcomed into a realm where the ordinary transformed into the extraordinary, much like the oeuvre of Leonora Carrington, Hearst’s muse for the season. Carrington’s spirit, a blend of surrealism and feminism, infused the collection with a sense of magical realism and the alchemical transformation of materials.
Hearst’s collection was a homage to tactile luxury and the seamless blend of comfort with high fashion. The women’s lineup boasted of richly textured elegance, featuring mixed shearling and cashmere coats, wooly cashmere “furs,” and teddy-like wool cashmere V-neck gowns that were as visually arresting as they were a testament to Hearst’s commitment to craftsmanship. The launch of the Carrington bag, a sleek box-shaped accessory in lush shades including oxblood, alongside scarlet-hued velvet boots and metallic leather ballet flats, signaled that the touch of red trend was here to stay, imbuing the collection with a vibrancy that is both timeless and utterly contemporary.
The mastery of leather, a standout in a season awash with leather creations, was evident in Hearst’s hand-pleated napa coats and supple suede leather slipdresses that draped with the ease of silk. This attention to material innovation extended to her approach to sustainability and comfort, incorporating merino knit waists with lace panels on double satin slipdresses and creating signature swirl lace in cashmere for cozy shirts and flared pants.
Hearst’s ability to mix materials on hybrid garments showcased a brand forte, with pieces like a chic black cashmere knit and ivory shearling coat with a back corset detail, and a modernist gold metallic napa and bias-cut silk sculpted dress standing out as exemplars of organic engineering. The collection also paid homage to the brand’s roots with a quilted denim duster coat, echoing the sensibilities of a puffer vest from Hearst’s early collections, while a dress with a bodice and a single puff sleeve in gold leather nodded to her past musings on Athena, blending her brand tenets of sustainability and feminism.
Yet, it was Hearst’s conversation with the surreal and the dreamlike—her nod to Carrington’s magical realism—that imbued the collection with a sense of wonder. Fabrics manipulated to evoke the unfamiliar, such as woven cashmere sheared with vertical lines to mimic fur or trenches in crinkled leather, spoke to a bolder interpretation of Carrington’s dreamlike paintings, challenging perceptions and inviting onlookers into a world where fashion transcends the boundaries of the material to touch upon the ethereal.
Gabriela Hearst’s Fall 2024 collection is thus a testament to the power of fashion as a narrative form, a dialogue between the past and the present, comfort and luxury, realism and surrealism. It stands as a tribute to the enduring influence of women like Carrington, who dared to dream differently, and to Hearst’s own vision of a fashion world that is not only beautiful but imbued with meaning, sustainability, and an unwavering commitment to innovation.
