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December is an important month for so many different religions. I consider myself a pagan and the winter solstice on December 21 is, for me, a reminder of the cycles of life and a day of thinking of others. During this month the company gives all of the net profit from our retail stores and ecommerce to Save the Children’s emergency fund.
For my kids’ sake, I also keep up the Christmas tradition with a tree and presents. We usually spend the holiday in New York or at home in Uruguay, where we celebrate on Christmas Eve and go on through the night. It’s summer there, but we still eat heavy foods. We usually have a barbecue and salads, and all the sweets — dulce de leche, pianono, nougat. Even if it’s 40C, you’re still eating nougat. The following day is a really relaxed one for the family.
I don’t always say I’m good at things, but I am a very good gift-giver. It’s not something that takes me too much time. I intuitively know what to give to someone. It could be a letter — I personally really love to receive letters and drawings. As I happen to have my own stores and make really beautiful things, I can also give cashmere sweaters, hand knitted by Manos del Uruguay — a women’s non-profit co-operative in my country. Everyone seems to like them, or let’s just say there is not much re-gifting.
Something I’ve already given to a lot of people this year — more than 250 of our guests at our fashion show in Paris and an event in London — is my friend, Nemonte Nenquimo’s memoir about the Amazon rainforest, We Will Not Be Saved. It’s more than a book about climate, it reads like a movie. Anyone from any background can identify with this story. I’ll also give subscriptions — to National Geographic, because I grew up reading it and it connects us to a visual world.
My nine-year-old son has asked for a Nintendo Alarmo for this year. My teenage daughters received their Christmas presents early — tickets to see Billie Eilish in Boston. I am going to have to come up with a little stocking stuffer for them. A gift card from Kinokuniya is always a good idea. It’s one of my favourite stores in New York, and a very similar experience to going to a store in Japan. It’s where I buy all my pencils, pens, papers. My kids grew up going there.
For myself, I love to receive chocolate and mezcal. My favourite is Yola mezcal because the company is owned and operated by women. Something I don’t have, but would love to have, is a Leonora Carrington tarot deck. She’s one of my favourite women in the art world. Or something from the flax seed pod collection by the French jewellery brand, Mira Stella, which has the same muse as I do: nature. The pieces are inspired by plants and the history of plants. Linen comes from the flax plant. We’ve been growing it for thousands of years. It has a nutritional value and can be grown without irrigation or the use of herbicides and pesticides. It’s a very noble fibre and one of my favourite fabrics to use in our clothing
Finally, I’d also love to receive tickets for the Oasis concert next year. Am I a fan? Who isn’t? I love watching clips of them, they’re so funny. I’m Generation X, so I’ve listened to them from the start. Now my 16-year-olds love them too.
Gabriela Hearst is an Uruguayan fashion designer based in New York, founder of her own eponymous luxury ready-to-wear and accessories brand, and former creative director of Chloé.
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