“You may not know it, but the Ancient Greek poet Sappho shaped what you desire. She is the one who convinced you that it is better to contemplate the motion of light on a lover’s face than to care for power. She is the one who first recognized love as a bittersweet force. She is the one who understood that people who seek the good are those who turn out to be truly beautiful.” A tastemaker, and poet, Sappho’s words altered the way people perceived the world. As she catered to a separate realm, one that privileged self-knowledge, eros, and the inexhaustible ecstasy of nature, even the wonder of the unappreciated apple blushing on the end of a bough. 

For Gabriela Hearst, Sappho’s label as “The Tenth Muse” fueled a stream of consciousness that passed through her. Images of garments started to appear, and Hearst would draw or paint them in notebooks, her chosen tools for each collection. Doodling tirelessly, swirls became a consistent pattern in her collections, for this time represented in the embroidery and multicolor crochet. Soon realizing they represented the wind and air movement. Through an incense burn, these patterns are revealed.

On May 19th, after Hearst learned of Sappho following her daughter’s halloween costume, she requested Professor Emanuele Lugli do research and give her a lecture on Sappho. Claiming “it was a treasure for the mind.” On May 22nd, Hearst ventured to Dia Beacon and saw the work of Imi Knoebel. Reminding her immediately of the collage. Not only the abstract shape but also the black and gold colors.

On track and following the signs, she read “If not Winter, Fragments of Sappho” fascinated yet again by an artist and creator that invented and did so much for the Women’s cause, revered by the Greeks and Romans alike, and whose works only exist as fragments. It made her question if she would have heard of Sappho if she had been born a man. But yet again hope and joy lay in her truth that she is discovered again by another young female generation. That an artistic spirit such as hers transcends time and appears when needed the most.

On September 6th, a week before the show, Hearst came to the realization of what just happened. An atypical rejection of the collection in a way. Never having felt this way before, she soon realized then that she did in fact swim a little deeper this time. Exuding a type of vulnerability that only occurs when one feels exposed, though there was nothing to hide.

Contoured gold nappa on vachetta leather with raw distressed edges in dresses and knitwear combo. The leather is soaked in water and then draped over a torm to create each individual piece.

Custom rose-gold metal bars framing double-breasted coats, blazers, and detailing dresses Artisanal smocked leather on fitted bodices with dart structured sleeves Artisanal swirl gold embroidery on textured linen. The swirl is also represented in the knitwear pieces, meticulously hand crocheted in cashmere inspired by Gabriela’s drawings

Knit dresses with tiny pebble textured stitch, printed with a gold foil, using a water-based glue that is eco-certified Ponchos hand-knitted in Uruguay, creating stripes with a chunky cashmere roving yarn and a fine merino yarn in between.

Watch the full show below: