Gabriela Hearst 8 essential pant styles for women and men, newly bought linen corduroy flare pants

Gabriela Hearst, like Agnona and The Row, produces both men's and women's clothing. Furthermore, the men's wear for all three brands was prepared for release starting in 2019, with the FW2020 menswear lookbooks being published (could this be due to the impact of the pandemic?). Since the menswear is an expansion of the women's wear brand's categories, it was established later than the core women's wear, and is comparatively less mature with a less extensive range of categories.

Currently, the consumer base for these three brands is still primarily female. However, relying on the design level and aesthetic experience from their women's wear, their current clothing is also quite good, and will become more mature with a few more years of development. Gabriela Hearst, The Row, and Khaite are all brands that have developed relatively quickly in recent years and are in an upward trajectory. They release a rich variety of new clothing styles each season, and doing more naturally leads to faster growth.

My first pair of corduroy pants was Gabriela Hearst's classic Vesta Pants flared wide-leg version, not as exaggerated as the other classic women's pants style, the Rhein Pants flare. This time, I'm taking advantage of these newly bought half-linen, half-cotton blend corduroy flared pants to talk about corduroy suits and Gabriela Hearst's classic women's pants style – Flare Pants.

I grew up in the 2000s and 2010s, when all kinds of tight pants were popular. I was tired of wearing them since I was little, and my mother-in-law's generation always told my mother, "What kind of pants did you buy? They're so tight." When I grew up, wide-leg pants became popular again, and flared pants were not as tight as they were in the 2000s. That's great. Now, except for cashmere long johns in winter, I resolutely don't wear anything tight-fitting. I just like clothes to have some space, leaving room for the occasional breeze.

I've noticed that whether straight-leg or wide-leg, whether fitted at the waist or not, whether wool or silk pants, as long as they are not too stiff, they can be blown into a spindle shape by the wind when turning.

No wonder many pant styles now widen outwards from the knee, made into flares or curved shapes. It must be the result of learning from life experience.

I've organized the brands I've written about before according to this "wind-blown" pant style. On the far left are Agnona men's pants, the green ones are Akris women's pants, the bottom left is Gabriela Hearst's classic Vesta Pants, which are the ones I just bought, except these are wool and have pleats, making them more formal. The two on the right, top and bottom, are Kiton's men's and women's pants.

These all have the rounded feel of wind blowing through the legs, which I call "wind's pant legs."

Besides pant legs, this style can also work for sleeves, with a wider lantern sleeve shape at the shoulders.

Gabriela Hearst's dresses and shirts, like Khaite's, often use lantern sleeves and puff sleeves. However, the full long sleeves that appear blown by the wind still have Gabriela Hearst's characteristic touch, whereas Khaite rarely features long-sleeved dresses.

The first thing I do when I get them home is to take scissors and cut off the care label. Last year, when I wrote about the Gabriela Hearst brand story, I emphasized that this brand pays great attention to environmental protection, traceability, and social animal welfare. In practice, every piece of clothing from her brand has a traceability QR code called Garment Journey. The QR code on this piece of mine should be expired, as it can't be scanned. The IT departments in the apparel industry are really not good; none of them can be scanned.

Like The Row and Khaite, these top American brands that are not as politically inclined as Adam Lippes are all Made in Italy. It just depends on what percentage is Made in Italy. Some cheaper styles from the first three brands are not made in Italy/America, while even the cheapest Gabriela Hearst items are Made in Italy and will never have any polyester or synthetic fiber fabrics. It belongs to the top tier of brands. The only brands I know of that can be compared to Gabriela Hearst are the cashmere brand Barrie , the suit (minimalist) brand Kiton and the fur brand Fabio Gavazzi.

This introduction to her brand's women's pants shows her level of quality. Later, I will also specifically update on Gabriela Hearst's runway shows and other categories. In my mind, this brand has the design level of The Row, Khaite, and Brunello Cucinelli, the insistence on using high-end fabrics and tailoring of Kiton , and the cashmere dyeing and knitting of Barrie . Its fabrics, colors, designs, and tailoring are all top-notch. Coupled with the many new products each year, rich creativity, and diverse categories, it is very worthy of in-depth study.

Other brands like The Row, Khaite, and Brunello Cucinelli also have the best colors, designs, and tailoring, and release many new styles each year. However, they cannot consistently maintain high-quality fabric production, and synthetic fibers occasionally appear, requiring a detailed look at the care label. Kiton and Barrie have the best fabrics, colors, designs, and tailoring, but they release too few new products each year, resulting in slower development and a more niche appeal. On the other hand,Agnona , Akris, and Adam Lippes not only have fewer new products and less variety each year, but some of their lower-priced items inevitably use lower-cost fabrics like synthetic fibers.

Next, I will introduce corduroy suits and Gabriela Hearst's core pant style in detail.

Corduroy

What we know today as corduroy originated in Manchester, England during the 18th-century Industrial Revolution. This city was known as "Cottonopolis" due to its booming cotton textile industry. New textile machinery was invented, and these new technologies made it possible to produce woven cotton fabric with vertical piles, which is modern corduroy.

Image showing corduroy being brushed

Corduroy became the preferred fabric for the working class due to its durability and ease of cleaning, and was widely used for uniforms and workwear. It became popular in the 19th century and was known as "poor man's velvet". In the 20th century, corduroy went through several cycles of popularity and decline. By the 1970s, corduroy became popular again in the United States and Europe, becoming a symbol of retro counterculture.

In the 1930s, national capitalist Liu Guojun founded the Dacheng Company in Changzhou ,China and had already begun to engage in the production of corduroy, hiring foreign experts to teach cutting pile and sharpening knives techniques. By 1954, the first truly meaningful bolt of "Chinese corduroy" was successfully developed, making it the earliest company in China's national textile industry to successfully produce velvet and corduroy. Corduroy was reintroduced to China in the 1980s and 1990s due to the retro counterculture trend in Europe and America. In July 1979, Changzhou corduroy won the first national quality gold medal for velvet products in the national first quality product evaluation.

Two of the oldest corduroy factories in the world are Brisbane Moss (1858) in the Calder Valley, between Leeds and Manchester in England, and Pontoglio (1883) on the Oglio River in Brescia, Italy.

The last time I wrote about corduroy was for Brunello Cucinelli. BC's corduroy is mainly for men's trousers, with 100% cotton fabric and his brand's signature loose-fitting, tapered-waist style.

BC womenswear rarely features corduroy, and it's not a classic style. This year, there's a new women's suit set in corduroy, but it's 75% viscose + 25% polyester. It must be said that Brunello Cucinelli's fabric quality has also declined in the past two years, and they've started using lower-cost synthetic fibers.

This viscose corduroy suit has a very ordinary texture, just basic corduroy. However, Brunello Cucinelli's women's wide-leg pants are well-made, loose and wide but still structured. Some brands tend to make women's wide-leg pants too plain and bulky; Kiton and Adam Lippes, which I wrote about before, are examples.

Ordinary corduroy doesn't appeal to me. In the 2000s, besides tight pants, corduroy pants were also commonly seen, especially those camel and brown corduroys, which were everywhere. The reasons I bought this pair are Gabriela Hearst's classic Vesta style and the 57% linen and 43% cotton blend, which has the characteristic dry and slightly rough feel of linen.

The lining is 100% recycled cupro. After all, it's a brand that emphasizes environmental protection. Some trousers priced at just over $1000 are made of recycled wool and recycled cotton. But for a brand at Gabriela Hearst's level, whose founder is also wealthy and ethical, the recycled materials should not be of poor quality. It won't be like mid-to-low-end minimalist brands like Julia Jentzsch, who use it as a marketing tactic and a way to save costs.

If men want to choose corduroy trousers and matching suits, they should look at Brunello Cucinelli. If women want to see corduroy suits, then it's Gabriela Hearst.

Gabriela Hearst's double-breasted (Angela series) is more representative and classic than the single-breasted.

The last time I mentioned Sea Island cotton was for Sunspel whose regular cotton and Sea Island cotton have different prices. For more on cotton and summer fabrics, you can check out Mauro Ottaviani, an Italian menswear OEM that created its own brand.

Paired with this suit are the Ianthe pants. The Ianthe pants are Gabriela Hearst's flared corduroy pants style, a small branch of flared pants categorized by fabric.

The following corduroy suit is made of 100% cashmere, the first time I've seen corduroy made of cashmere. The last time I was surprised by high-end fabric was from Barrie, a good brand that breaks conventional perceptions.

This suit is also a new runway style this year.

The pant style chosen is still the Vesta, which has the most variety and is the most representative of the Gabriela Hearst brand.

The Vesta style used to be called Gabriel and was renamed. Besides the slightly flared style that is relatively loose and wide-legged, another feature is the adjustable straps on both sides of the waist.

Mine is an old model. I wore it last week when I went out for fun, and only after wearing it for a whole day did I realize why Gabriela Hearst no longer makes linen and cotton blend corduroy. Linen is too stiff. Corduroy itself tends to be rough and durable. After wearing it for a day, by evening, it was rubbing the sides of my thighs. No wonder the new corduroy models have all been changed to softer cashmere fabric. I've gained some experience.

Suddenly I remembered that linen and hemp pants should at least have half mulberry silk added or be made into wide-leg pants or other loose styles. Bast fiber fabrics, especially when new, if too tight-fitting, rub the skin. Therefore, you either make the fit loose or add at least half the proportion of fine and smooth mulberry silk to improve it. I will write a dedicated article about this in the future.

But the Vesta classic fit does look good.

Pants

I've taken a screenshot of all the pants currently on her official website. Gabriela Hearst's expertise in pant styles is evident.

The prices range from expensive to affordable, all based on the fabric. Above $3000 is generally cashmere and calfskin, above $2000 is cashmere blend, some heavyweight silk and genuine Sea Island cotton, and above $1000 is wool, cotton, and thinner silk. Similar to Khaite Dress, Gabriela Hearst's most expensive items are also some seasonal art collection pieces. The same style will come in different colors and fabrics with different pricing.

If Khaite excels at tulip buds, puff sleeves, lantern sleeves, ruffles, and other young lady styles, Gabriela Hearst is the brand that best knows how to make flared shapes. Besides the representative flare pants of various lengths and flare widths, the cuffs of wool coats and cashmere dresses are also made into flared shapes.

Many of Gabriela Hearst's dress and coat styles have a Greek goddess vibe, a dignified and elegant queenly feel. Cersei's style in "Game of Thrones" features flared sleeves.

Gabriela Hearst's flared pants have been present since her first clothing release in the 2015 Fall/Winter collection (presented in 2014), and by 2017, the current Vesta style already existed.

From 2018 to 2020, the designs were continuously refined, and in 2019, trousers with a distinct flared shape similar to the Rhein series appeared.

By 2020, the flared pant style had matured, and it was used in Gabriela Hearst's signature Pointelle knit in the 2020 Spring/Summer collection, and in suede and corduroy fabrics in the 2020 Fall/Winter collection.

Starting in 2021, the Vesta and Rhein series became basic trouser styles for each season, appearing every quarter, usually in multiple sets, paired with capes, shirts, outerwear, etc.

The pant styles currently sold on the official website, some of their product images are from runway shows and Lookbooks between 2022 and 2025.

Men's trousers were discussed in the "Menswear" subsection. The classic men's curved leg pant style and flared pant style increased from 2023 to 2025, as menswear was only first released in the Fall/Winter 2022 collection.

Vesta

Let's start discussing Gabriela Hearst's trousers with the classic Vesta wide-leg flared pants. The most expensive are 100% Lambskin, a material that is pricier than cashmere for many brands.

The brand started making clothes in 2014. Counting from the launch of 2015 FW, they already had the Vesta pants in 2016 Resort collection, which featured adjustable golden rings at the waist. By 2017 SS, these pants had already taken their final form

Below is a new style, metallic 100% lambskin, a very rare color and fabric combination.

The Vesta Pants in the same style, but in 100% lambskin and 100% virgin wool, have very different vibes. Leather pants are still too stiff, while wool is more formal, exactly like the "wind's pant legs" I mentioned at the beginning of this article. Many minimalist suit brands that value quality also offer this style.

There is also a variation of the Vesta style called Vesta Flare, which makes the original wide-leg style more fitted, suitable for slim figures.

Vesta Flare is only available in two fabrics: one is 49% Virgin Wool, 30% Silk, 21% Linen.

The other is 100% virgin wool, with gradient irregular colors inspired by the founder's own watercolor paintings.

Each season, Gabriela Hearst releases some styles with special colors inspired by Gabriela's own paintings. This is the first time I've seen such a direct combination of artistic creation and clothing, directly displayed on every product detail page. Gabriela Hearst herself has a strong artistic sensibility.

The most expensive $8600 art collection suit comes from the colors in her own watercolor paintings.

Each season, Gabriela Hearst features at least one design with rich, saturated colors and an artistic flair.

This has become more prevalent from 2021 to 2025 onwards, whether in trousers, artistic designs, or Gabriela Hearst's bags, signature lace knits, distinctive cashmere sweaters, and capes. These have all matured in the past five years, similar to The Row and Khaite.

Rhein

Rhein river? Rhein and Rhein Flare, besides Vesta and the slim-fit Vesta Flare, are Gabriela Hearst's second major classic styles. The flare is more obvious and wider. This can be seen from the comparison of the two major leather pant series below. Also, Rhein does not have the Vesta's unique adjustable small waist straps on both sides.

The distinction between Rhein and Rhein Flare is not very obvious on the official website currently. Similar to the Vesta series, it is divided into the slim-fit Rhein Flare and the slightly wider-leg Rhein.

The four Rhein items below show Gabriela Hearst's pricing. Besides the most expensive 100% Lambskin above $4000 and 100% Cashmere above $3000, the others above $2000 are cashmere and linen or silk blends, heavyweight thickened silk, and the Sea Island Cotton corduroy from the previous corduroy section.

The regular virgin wool (Gabriela Hearst's wool is all virgin wool) and regular cotton (or linen blend) are the most affordable, priced between $1200 and $1300. So, the corduroy pants I just bought belong to Gabriela Hearst's basic entry-level fabrics.

Among them, the Rhein black transparent organza suit is inspired by Khaite . Khaite has relatively few leather pants, and its core style is the Trenton Pants below.

Compared to leather pants, Khaite is more skilled in 100% Lambskin leather jackets, leather trench coats, and leather suits.

Gabriela Hearst is very comprehensive, offering 100% Lambskin across all categories, not just leather suits and leather coats, but also leather skirts, leather pants and leather dresses. Like Khaite, Gabriela Hearst began introducing 100% Lambskin clothing in various categories such as leather/suede coats, leather skirts, and leather half-skirts back in 2019, with new improvements each year since then.

Flare Pants

Next, let's list other branches of flared pants, featuring special fabrics and designs, which are styles that enrich the variety and design. Several basic styles are similar to Rhein, with wide flares starting below the knee.

The most expensive is the Bate Cargo pants, with leather pants at $6500 and cashmere at $3300. This is the first time I've seen cargo pants made of cashmere, as rare as the first time I saw Barrie 's cashmere overalls.

The second most expensive is the 100% silk Claude Flare Pants, featuring a special pleated silk technique called Plisse.

Plisse has been mentioned in Agnona and TSE. Plisse is particularly used extensively by Agnona. Agnona's cashmere is known for its various special knits, all very rare weaving techniques.

Plisse has already been mentioned in relation toAgnona and TSE. Plisse is used a lot by Agnona and Gabriela Hearst. The characteristic of Agnona cashmere is all sorts of special knitwear, all made with very rare knitting techniques. Previously, I also specifically compiled an article about Plisse, where I compared Plisse of different qualities, introduced the difference between Plisse and Pleat, and the difference between Plisse and cashmere rib knit.

Although TSE doesn't reach Agnona's level and doesn't have Plisse, it has many special ribbed knits. Because the price is more friendly, it can be considered a more affordable alternative to Gabriela Hearst's cashmere. Many of Gabriela Hearst's classic representative cashmere sweaters are ribbed, and they are mostly a 70% cashmere + 30% silk blend.

Gabriela Hearst's classic cashmere-silk ribbed series includes the Emma Pointelle cardigan and the Nevin Pointelle vest.

Pointelle is a knit fabric with a fine weave that creates small holes or patterns (like snowflake holes), known for being lightweight, breathable, and soft.

The Amor classic ribbed dress.

Continuing with Gabriela Hearst's branched flared pants.

The third most expensive is the Ayala Flare, which is a cashmere-wool blend and easy to identify. The length of these flared pants is a cropped nine-point length.

Another style with a similar length is the Marsh Flare, which is more formal because it's made of wool crepe.

Priced similarly to the Marsh Flare is the corduroy Lanthe Flare, which looks very much like a slim-fit Flare version of the Rhein.

Menswear

Currently, there are only two flared pant styles for men: Stevie and Preston. Stevie is more like the women's Vesta style, slightly wider-legged, and has adjustable small waist straps and metal rings on both sides of the waist.

Preston is more like the Rhein Flare, with a more slender and obvious flare.

Men wearing flared pants, if they are slim, look like David Bowie and the sickly beautiful Celine boys during Hedi Slimane's era; if they are more muscular, they resemble Elvis Presley and the male lead in "Brokeback Mountain," haha, in any case, they look artistic enough.

The following image shows the Preston runway styles of flared pants from the first row of each season from 2023 to 2025. The second row shows some styles that lean towards men's curved leg pants. These two pant styles are representative of Gabriela Hearst's trousers.

There is also the Simons and Sebastian series, which are as classic as the women's Vesta series, featuring buttons at the waist but not made into obvious flared pants (perhaps men are still not very accepting of flared pants?). Instead, they resemble the curved leg pants of Agnona and Kiton in Kiton's 4 Essential Casual Pant Styles : A Comparison with 4 Leading Brand's Menswaer Trousers. This pant style is a basic men's style.

The Sebastian and Simons styles are almost identical, except that Simons is made of a silk and wool blend in a beige fabric, while Sebastian has a wider range of materials, including wool, corduroy, and denim.

Runway styles of Sebastian and Simons curved leg pants from the past 3 years. The pleats at the front are removed for Lambskin fabric.

Others

Currently, besides the two flared pant styles and the curved leg pants mentioned above, Gabriela Hearst's other men's pant styles are generally average, with limited variety and relatively ordinary styles, such as the Rhys and Anthony series below. The former is slimmer, while the latter is looser.

Although the official website also features some regular straight-leg and wide-leg pants for women, compared to the flared styles, the variety, number of colors, and types of fabrics are very limited, and they are not core styles.

The Norman series below is very similar to the straight-leg pants of Akris, Agnona, and Adam Lippes, belonging to one of the basic styles of minimalist brands.

In her early years, Gabriela Hearst occasionally made a small number of slim-fit skinny pants for women, but they didn't become a focus.

After the 2020s, due to The Row's wide-leg oversized trend, various brands began to occasionally release wide-leg pants that closely followed the contemporary style, including the wide-leg pants from BC that were mentioned in the corduroy section earlier.

Epilogue

In summary, Gabriela Hearst offers a rich variety of flared pant styles. The two core flared pant styles are Vesta and Vesta Flare, Rhein and Rhein Flare. Variations of the Rhein flared pants include: Bate Cargo flared cargo pants, Claude Flare pleated Plisse silk flared pants, Ayala Flare cashmere-wool blend cropped flared pants + Marsh Flare wool cropped flared pants, Lanthe corduroy flared pants, and finally, the Stevie and Preston men's flared pants, totaling seven styles.Plus, the men's Simons and Sebastian curved leg pants have a lantern sleeve-like fullness.

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