Gabriela Hearst debuts London store

Uruguay-born and New York-based designer Gabriela Hearst has opened her first UK boutique on the eve of London Fashion Week. Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the Mayfair store is situated opposite Claridges on Brook Street, an up and coming destination for luxury shoppers,

The store echoes the brand’s commitment to sustainability, Hearst told CPP Luxury. “The main two directions I gave Foster + Partners was that first and foremost it has to be the most sustainable store ever made and it also has to be an evolution not a revolution from the New York store.” The Queen Anne Style building was built in the late 19th century by Sir Robert William Edis, a proponent of the Aesthetic movement, who believed well-designed interiors promoted physical health and mental wellbeing.

In an Instagram post the designer said: “The custom Benchmark furniture has been made in Hungerford from a London plane tree that fell in a recent storm in Lincoln. The herringbone oak parquet floor is made from wood reclaimed from a 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 lights are on automatic dimmers. The leather has been dyed using non-toxic vegetable dyes, and the curtains are linen rather than cotton.”

The 2,000 sq ft space houses Hearst’s men’s, women’s and accessory collections, as well as organic beauty by Costa Brazil, the brand founded by former Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa.

About the proximity of the boutique to Claridges Hearst said: “I see what we do as service. Our woman is a dynamic woman, who doesn’t have time to think too much about clothes. Being in front of a hotel like that reminds everyone what high service is.”

Earlier this year LVMH Luxury Ventures, an investment arm of LVMH, took a minority stake in Gabriela Hearst, making it the only American brand other than Marc Jacobs in which the global luxury conglomerate is invested.