Cult Gaia Spring 2027: ‘Twas the Day Before Fashion Week

by · WWD
Cult Gaia Spring 2027 ready-to-wear collection at New York Fashion Week.Courtesy of Cult Gaia

Much to every editor’s dismay, the Wednesday before NYFW filled up so much it might as well have been added to the official calendar.

Los Angeles-based Cult Gaia was only one of a few brands taking a page from the Ralph Lauren playbook this season, staging its second East Coast runway show at the Gilder Center inside the Museum of Natural History. 

The choice of venue could’ve been seen as following in the footsteps of Tory Burch after she chose it three years ago, but for founder Jasmin Hekmat, there was deeper meaning. 

Backstage, she said the cave-like space by architect Jeanne Gang was the ideal backdrop to her collection because “she took concrete, something that’s hard, and made it look soft.” That’s a pretty accurate way of describing what Hekmat does herself only in reverse: taking soft materials and manipulating them into clothes with an almost “hard” sculptural presence.

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It was apparent from the opening look: a Hunter green tailcoat with built-out shoulders extending into leg-of-mutton sleeves. Bustiers and board shorts followed in Hekmat’s signature chintz plissè, which she gave structure to by using a basketweaving technique.

Working more in Gang’s direction, golden disks, originally used for Cult Gaia’s cult handbags, were linked together, forming a maxi skirt and a minidress, both worn with glittery tweed toppers– a little Paco Rabanne-meets-Chanel. 

For evening, strips of dip-dyed pink silk organza sprouted from gowns in flower-like bunches, foreshadowing the downpour of petals over the finale to come. 

Hekmat, who lost her grandmother earlier this year, said she was thinking about the beauty that can grow out of grief. The wall of moss growing out of the concrete at the Gilder Center was a sign of that — how life goes on.

Other signs Cult Gaia has a strong pulse: menswear, which debuted last fall, seems to be growing, although the Cult guy is still a supporting character to the Cult girls. And a new store on Madison Avenue that opened this week, a sign of Hekmat’s investment in New York– and in more fashion weeks to come.