“Made in Afghanistan!” Gabriela Hearst declared proudly after her lovely spring show, leading editors through a lineup of models to point out the hand-painted miniatures, floral embroideries and ikat patchworks that added additional layers of meaning, empathy, beauty and rarity to the designer’s luxurious, eco-conscious fashion universe.

Hearst was wearing a handsome, lustrous olive-colored shirt and jacket made of raw silk woven in Afghanistan, and clutching a thick notebook containing her dreamy watercolor sketches and various clippings. In an incredible case of serendipity, one folded salmon-colored page dated Sept. 4, 2026, featured a Gabriela Hearst ad on one side, and on the other a “Lunch With the FT” article featuring former Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

The designer said she’s had Afghanistan on her mind ever since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 2021, sending women and girls hurtling back to another dark age. While eager to shed light on the women keeping textile, embroidery and jewelry traditions alive there, Hearst’s teams were only able to film women’s hands for fear of reprisals.

At the show, Hearst introduced journalists to professor Thomas Wide, who connected her to Turquoise Mountain, a nonprofit that supports artisan communities in Afghanistan, and connected her to marginalized makers.

“I told them, ‘I want to work with you guys, but I need to make sure that whatever we make are things we can produce,’” she related during a preview earlier in the week at her showroom where, in lieu of a mood board of inspiration images, she charted 100 years of Afghan history, which boasts only rare periods of reform and enlightenment. It was reproduced as a booklet placed on each seat at the show, staged in the courtyard garden of the Petit Palais.

It was incredible to see how seamlessly the Afghanistan narrative was woven through the collection. Hearst’s flawless pantsuits and knitted lace dresses came embedded with mirrors in the tradition of shisha, used to deflect negative energy, while floral Suzani embroideries on quilted leather blousons and knitted LBDs added a nice bohemian touch.

Hearst still keeps upping her luxury credentials, this season introducing water-resistant trenchcoats made of 100 percent silk waxed with resin, while also folding in a poignant tribute to her 22 million muses this season: the women of Afghanistan.