And new takes on the house’s classic Edith bag-the first bag Hearst ever bought-had materialized by repurposing old editions. The organic colors of by-product shearling and eco-leather outerwear had come to life through non-chemical processes. Next to the Sheltersuit pieces, marble prints on blouses and dresses had been created by the artist Peter Miles using seaweed and eggs. Hearst is taking on a female-driven legacy in a time when male designers are suddenly fronting brands created by women. On the contrary, this was a viable wardrobe for women created by a woman for a brand largely shaped by women, from Aghion herself to Phoebe Philo, Clare Waight Keller, Natacha Ramsay-Levi, and sustainable trailblazer Stella McCartney. It was very postcard, but far from Emily in Paris. Seizing an opportunity only the current Paris curfew could create, Hearst filmed her models striding out of Brasserie Lipp-where Chloé’s late founder Gaby Aghion presented some of her earliest collections-and across the cobblestones of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. While both were underpinned by Hearst’s signature earthy puritanism, her take on Chloé’s bourgeois bohemia was far more girly and kicky than the monastic modernism of her own brand. (On paper it already seemed like it would, but like any lovechild, you can only really hope.) Hearst called her Chloé collection the “Aphrodite” to her own brand’s “Athena”: sensual and playful femininity versus a heroic and wise androgyny. Slowly, recognizable features from each set of genes morphed into one symbiosis that turned out quite attractive. Watching Gabriela Hearst’s first show for Chloé unfold was like seeing the child of two familiar people grow up before your eyes.

Before your eyes chloe