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Photo: Instagram.com/gigihadid
Part-Palestinian model Gigi Hadid has revealed the official launch date of her clothing brand on social media, just a month after announcing the name of the line, Guest in Residence.

“ONE WEEK AWAY — my first-ever brand,” Hadid wrote on Instagram. “As a founder, creative director, and lover of all-things-cozy, I’m so happy to finally share that GUEST IN RESIDENCE officially launches September 7, 2022”. The new collection will include knitwear made of 100% cashmere according to the label, which will feature relaxed tops and bottom sets. Sneak peeks shared by Hadid so far show fabric swatches, mood boards, and a unique color palette that speaks to the model’s personal style which includes shades of bright orange, blue, pastels, and black. Hadid also shared the newly launched Instagram account for Guest in Residence, the bio for which reads, “Knitters. 100% cashmere. Envisioned by creative director @gigihadid.” Posted on the account alongside the brand’s logo are two new black and white portraits of Hadid, presumably wearing pieces—a co-ord set and a sweater and cardigan—from Guest in Residence.

Hadid had first hinted at the launch of the brand in a Vogue interview earlier this year. “Working on my clothing line has been incredible because it’s a different setting, where I get to be involved in team-building and designs,” she had said. “I’m just trying to be creative all the time, and keep coming up with ways that I can put that into the world in a way that touches people.” In addition to this new endeavor, Hadid will also be co-hosting Netflix’s Next in Fashion along with British TV personality Tan France. “I’m so excited about both,” Hadid had added. “We’re working with the production team right now, finalizing guest judges and episodes with the hope that the audience feels how much fun and love we’re putting into everything.”
Although this is her debut apparel collection, this is not the first time the mother-of-one has ventured into designing. Hadid formerly collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger on four collections. She also teamed up with Vogue Eyewear in 2017 on a capsule collection that was a big hit.
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Photo: Courtesy of Glamourmagazine.co.uk
With the rise of the metaverse showing no sign of slowing down, it’s no surprise that the fashion world — which is always looking for the next big thing to drive creativity — is one of the industries at the forefront of innovation. After all, if we’re all going to be exploring a virtual new world then we’re going to need some pretty major new looks, right?
It doesn’t get much more major than fashion powerhouses Prada, Balenciaga and Thom Browne, who have all just been revealed as the three brands set to launch purchasable clothing for our Meta Avatars to be used across Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
That’s right, your real self may still be yet to move such items from your wishlist to your basket, but that cute little virtual you is about to be decked out in designer looks from head-to-toe.
Introducing the concept to the masses, Eva Chen, Director of Fashion Partnerships at Instagram, joined Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg on an Instagram Live over the weekend to unveil a series of potential high-fashion looks for the tech mogul’s own avatar and find out his verdict.

“There is a certain irony and humor which I appreciate in you asking me for my views on fashion,” said the founder. “But I am grateful and proud that these iconic brands are joining us to kick off fashion in the metaverse.”

Of course, those with their finger on the pulse may have seen this coming. Mere moments after ‘Facebook’ rebranded and changed its name to ‘Meta’ last October, the official brand account Tweeted Balenciaga, asking: “Hey @Balenciaga, what’s the dress code in the metaverse?”.
“When Meta tweeted, we were instantly into it. Web3 and Meta are bringing unprecedented opportunities for Balenciaga, our audience and our products, opening up new territories for luxury” said Cédric Charbit, CEO at Balenciaga, of the news.
“We want to create a marketplace so creators, over time, can design clothing and sell it,” said Zuckerberg. “A lot of the dream is to make it accessible to anyone. If you want to design fashion today, you need the physical materials and equipment, but in the future, anyone with a computer and an imagination will be able to come up with ideas for this.”
“It does take a certain confidence to wear shoulders-to-toes Prada,” Zuckerberg admitted, “I think in the metaverse I may just have that confidence.”
Balenciaga, Prada and Thom Browne are among the first brands to sign on to sell digital fashion in the new Meta-created avatar store where, according to Vogue Business items will range from $2.99 to $8.99 to start.
Meta’s avatar shop is expected to launch soon and will include everything from free-to-use creator-designed items to purchasable looks from global fashion brands.
Originally published in Glamourmagazine.co.uk
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“I wanna see bags and dresses, not bees,” reads one comment on Chloé’s Instagram account, which was recently scrubbed clean to make way for a “radical visual narrative,” so far focused on insects, plants, fruits — and the occasional freckled nose.
To be sure, some of the French brand’s 9.5 million followers on the photo-sharing platform wondered if its account had been hacked, with users describing the nature closeups as “super strange,” “stupid” or “weird.”
One simply asked, “Why?”
Over Zoom on Friday, Chloé’s creative director Gabriela Hearst cited a deep and ambitious reason: A wish to rewire people’s brains and reconnect them to all the things the planet gives us.
“It’s healing,” she said. “I feel that it’s doing something we never thought could do on social media. It does have this healing vision for the eyes, as we go through the journey together of understanding where things come from.”

This image on Chloé’s Instagram was captioned “the beating of oars, just out of sync. beauty’s asymmetry.” 
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Hearst explained that she’s building up to showing actual products in a third phase of the visual story, but for now she’s letting Zoë Ghertner’s photos — a praying mantis here, a ladybug visiting a tiny flower there — remind us that without the natural world, there would be no raw materials for fashion, the focus of the second phase.
“We have to go back to respecting products, we have to go back to respecting objects, but we cannot go back if we don’t respect the source that is giving it to us,” she said in an interview.

A pioneer of sustainable luxury who grew up on a ranch in Uruguay, Hearst is bringing her eco convictions to Chloé as it pursues a new purpose-driven business model prioritizing environmental and social good.
The designer was as cryptic about the timing of the forthcoming phases as some of the captions on the photos (“blood spilled on ice, a love letter singed, some kind of elaborate raspberry coffee cake, who really knows?” reads one under an image of a crackled, pink-tinged surface. A muffin top perhaps?).
Indeed, Hearst only dropped one hint about future posts: “The eruption of the volcano in Iceland has been shot for this Instagram. It’s so beautiful and so breathtaking,” she enthused.

A closeup of a mushroom on Chloé’s Instagram feed. 
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The designer shrugged at the confounded users — some going so far as to express disgust — as proof of how estranged some people are from nature. “We are actually gaining followers,” she said with a smile.
On a lighter note, she was heartened to see how popular raspberries and grapefruits are — garnering around 15,000 likes — while she roots for the pollinators, languishing at about 7,000 likes.
“You will get to see bags and dresses,” she said, “but there wouldn’t be bags and dresses if there were no bees.
“To see nature in all its magnificence is something that I’m excited to see on Instagram,” she continued. “I grew up looking at National Geographic, which is my main inspiration. And we used to save those magazines. In my lifetime, we’ve gone from saving magazines to just throwing magazines. It’s just about this appreciation of where things come from.”
She noted that the old posts have been archived, and the decision to scrub the account for the new imagery was made only after Hearst and her team discovered the Ghertner images and Peter Miles’ art direction.

“We were all taken by how beautiful everything looked together, and we realized that it would be very confusing to have both,” she said. “One thing we’re looking for is clarity in this world. And so it was more clear to do it like this, and to celebrate nature in this first chapter.”
Designer brands have been taking more risks on Instagram lately, with Bottega Veneta deleting its account last January without explanation.
SEE ALSO:
Gabriela Hearst on How She’s Working to ‘Make Sustainability Sexy’
EXCLUSIVE: Chloé Quietly Shifts to Purpose-Driven Business Model
Gabriela Hearst and Chloé Go Way Back