Uruguayan fashion designer Gabriela Hearst, who is known for her eponymous ready-to-wear clothing line, has turned to her home country’s national soccer team with new uniforms for the 2026 World Cup, according to Reuters. Hearst, who turns 50 this year, was raised on a ranch, where she says clothing carried deep personal meaning. A family seamstress made garments to mark life’s milestones, often passed down through generations. Hearst was the first Latin American to lead the luxury French fashion house Chloe, a role she held from 2020 to 2023. Hearst, who hails from a family of cattle farmers, has said it was her husband, John Augustine Chilton Hearst, a member of the US publishing dynasty, who pointed out how her upbringing could play into her fashion career. Speaking to Reuters while showcasing the tailored off-the-pitch sportswear at Montevideo’s Estadio Centenario — which played host to the first World Cup final in 1930 — Hearst reflects on national identity, the value of craft in the age of AI and how her upbringing in rural Uruguay continues to shape her environmentally conscious designs. “It is hard to match football's popularity worldwide, so I see it as part of a broader multi-pronged mix, rather than something being replaced,” she said. “For a long time, people didn’t even know where my country was, and now they do — and that’s largely thanks to football. Football opens the door, and then people discover the country beyond it,” Hearst noted. She said it’s an honor to be Latina and to represent the quality and integrity of her culture — especially right now. “Artists like Bad Bunny doing the Super Bowl halftime show, and even the Pope meeting with him, are examples of how wide the reach has become. I'm always very excited when the culture of my continent is represented, rooted in warmth, family, and strong values. I do think South America is having a broader cultural moment,” Hearst said.
