In New York, tonal dressing and soft-to-the-touch fabrics have predominated this season. Heirlome, the brand founded by Stephanie Suberville Rodriguez (designer) and Jeffrey Axford (CEO) in 2022, engages with those trends—but with a point of difference. Each Heirlome collection features partnerships with artisans in Rodriguez’s native Mexico and elsewhere. Rodriguez is not outsourcing production but inviting them to engage with the design process. This creates newness for a line that evolves rather than changes directions twice a year, and it also preserves craft that’s in danger of being lost.
As the brand name suggests, longevity is a core brand value. Heirlome, the designer explained, is the middle English way of spelling heirloom (which is how the name is pronounced). It’s usually jewelry, rather than clothing, that is shared among generations, Rodriguez noted. Working closely with artisans, she has come to think of an heirloom not only as an object, but “as a tool or as a skill that you can pass on.” The idea, she said in a 2024 interview is to create “different ways to connect the world with what I’m doing, more than just beautiful clothes that you can pass on to your kids, it’s also the love for the artisans and the preserving of art and culture.”
The savoir faire of Angélica Moreno’s Talavera de la Reyna workshop, located in the city of Puebla, Mexico, was seen in the black-and white prints and a pieced skirt made after one of the patterns. Madres y Artisanas Tex, from La Paz, Bolivia, made multi-textured 3D sweaters from Japanese yarns supplied to them by Heirlome. Raintree Design PVT. from Mumbai made the plaited bra top and skirt with deep fringe.
It feels like almost every collection had a hero coat this season. Heirlome’s was a double-breasted camel-hair topper with an undercolor of leather and a button at the center back to which a matching shawl can be attached. A black leather jacket, called Iggy (presumably after Mr. Pop), with a high neck in front had a luxe papery feel. On Rodriguez’s moodboard was a picture of Christian Dior’s structured Bar suit, which informed her well-tailored jackets with defined waists and a bit of soft padding at the hips. This look was also inspired by Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, a forever inspiration for Rodriguez, who said she came of age during the ’90s when Calvin Klein was at his peak, which “really formed what I think is cool in my head. I’ve always been kind of clean,” she continued, “but I don’t consider myself a minimalist.” She’d rather her work not be put into the quiet luxury box, either, and she says she’s not trying to create something that is for everybody.
Heirlome is a polished, put-together brand that takes evening into consideration. A crinkled black fabric that the designer over-pleated was magicked into a neo-Fortuny skirt and top; the latter had a beautiful rounded back and petaled collar. A bias-cut skirt in ivory satin was paired with a textured belted sweater that could be hung on the wall as textile art. Adding a rich jot of color to a tonal collection was a strapless dress with an origami-like fold at the neckline in a warm, wine red.
Although Rodriguez doesn’t generally work to a theme, this season, she was inspired by a Vogue Mexico story about braids. Plaiting used on knits felt like a metaphor or symbol for a new way forward. So much of socio-political discourse is disruptive, and involves talks of borders and division; in contrast, a braid is a gentle intertwining of various strands. Strength is to be found in our connections—to time, to history, to craft, and to each other. Pass it on.