Gabriela Hearst spent the first two years of her time at Chloé concentrating on materials, from fibre to garment. This was because making fashion more sustainable is, first and foremost, a problem involving energy. Under her supervision, there will be no more cotton branded shirts being sold.

According to the collection notes for the house’s spring 2024 pre-collection, the brand will be taking “a more nuanced and abstract stance centering on notions of consciousness, circularity, and timelessness.” In addition, it states that these ideals are conveyed “holistically on both an aesthetic and a technical level.”

Hearst, in keeping with her no-nonsense persona, expresses it in a manner that is far more brief. “This collection is about the chicest garment mixing, but actually you’re looking at trash,” the creative director declared, almost triumphantly, during a showroom Zoom from New York City. “The fact that it’s just leftover trash makes me feel better about the situation.”

There is almost nothing about this excursion that even remotely screams “leftovers.” The opposite is true. Its jeans are composed of a unique fabric that is 87% post-consumer cotton and 13% hemp. These jeans are the result of a cooperation between the company and a denim expert named Adriano Goldschmied. And not everything that looks like denim is actually made of denim; for example, the shearling-collared jacket and flared pants pictured above are both made of suede.

Another one of Hearst’s favourite categories, knitwear, is included in this grouping. It appears in a sophisticated ensemble with fringes or in a Merino dress with tulip sleeves and a botanical guipure midriff, all of which have the potential to convert cut-out sceptics into believers. Jewel-like chains are used as a finishing touch on the seams of ribbed knits made of lower-impact wool that are designed for curves and ease of movement. This design element also appears on a black hourglass jacket and a wool coat. Some of the items, like a wool jacquard cardigan with a variety of different coloured threads, were manufactured in conjunction with the social business Manos del Uruguay.

A sneak peek of this homage was shown at the Met Gala earlier this month. It was designed to honour Karl Lagerfeld’s quarter-century employment at Chloé. The unique column dress that Maude Apatow wore is reimagined here as a coat, a dress with a swooping arrow in the back, as well as bags, shoes, and jewellery. The original dress was made of deadstock silk crepe and had hand-embroidered arrows. A guitar dress modelled after the longer one that Hearst wore on the red carpet is an additional reference that was not captured in this image.

After those bold pieces, there was a rich and luxurious array of outfits that were unabashedly elegant and had crisp cuts. The colours were neutral and included ecru, black, and navy. These demonstrate Hearst’s mastery of the Thomas Crown–inspired wearing style, which is likely something that ladies all around the world have had difficulty locating in recent years. A cropped chocolate leather jacket, a mink coat pulled from shearling, a black wool cape coat with nuggety gold buttons, and a denim and shearling jacket all made strong pitches for gimmick-free, long-term investment clothing.

The fashion designer made the following observation: “[In fashion], people sometimes forget that we are providing a service, something that is beautiful and well made,” “What we produce is not something that anyone really needs.” Chloé devotees will argue otherwise once this collection is available for purchase in shops.

The Collection