EXCLUSIVE: Cult Gaia Sets L.A. Fashion Show for Nov. 2, to Open Miami Store in December
Cult Gaia is heading to the runway.
Designer Jasmin Larian Hekmat plans to stage a fashion show in her hometown of Los Angeles on Nov. 2. The brand will present its 2024 resort collection.
More from WWD
“Doing it in Los Angeles for me is a no-brainer,” Hekmat told WWD. “This is the homeland of Cult Gaia. I ideated the brand in New York, but it really came to life here. Being able to engage our community and family and be truly under the sun is so much of who we are and what we stand for. The pieces belong on a runway.”
It’ll be a see now, buy now concept, with shoppers able to purchase pieces after the show.
“It’s amazing to be able to offer what we show to the customer to purchase immediately,” she said.
The location of the show has yet to be revealed. “It will be something that is epic, very Cult Gaia. And something, I guess, only we can do.”
Hekmat began making goddess-inspired flower crowns for friends while a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. They took off — as did Cult Gaia’s signature “Ark” bag, shortly after the label launched in 2012, fueled by social media. The brand has since grown, launching other “It” bags along the way, including the rhinestone “Hera” purse, and signature dresses (current bestsellers are the $398 “Akaia” and $658 “Floreana” designs).
The last time Hekmat presented a runway show was in Malibu in 2018, her first.
“It just never felt right to me to just do a show,” she explained. “But these pieces really deserve to be walked down a runway. And I’m so excited to bring our people that we love together to witness that. Also, nothing else captures all five senses like a show.”
In January, Hekmat unveiled her first store, a flagship on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, Calif. Next, she’s opening in Miami in December. While she had a yearlong pop-up in the city’s Design District in May 2022, this one is permanent. (She’s eyeing London, Dallas and Las Vegas as future destinations.)
“It’s so extraordinary,” she said, adding that the facade features a hand-painted mural that reflects her “heart” and “history.”
Hekmat has been known to celebrate her Iranian American heritage, throwing a Persian Nights dinner party for the brand’s 10th anniversary, and bringing personal elements in store.
“I can really put our storytelling into our stores and finally see how our customer interacts with our pieces, which is a game changer,” she said of retail. “Before it was mostly online and Instagram. Now, we get to create these magical spaces and house beautiful products, so I see our merchandising differently. It created a frame for the artwork. It’s a punctuation point for the work that we do. So now when we’re working on something, it’s like, ‘Is it worthy of this space?’”
Best of WWD
