Creative Director Gabriela Hearst designed Chloé’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection with sustainability in mind. She posed a question to conservationist Isabella Tree, author of Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm. How does she deal with climate anxiety? “By living in the solution,” Tree replied.

The collection introduces an approach to design that is new to Chloé: One that pairs the ethos of a specific climate solution—in this case, rewilding, or allowing ecosystems to return their natural state—with an overarching creative reference. This season, the latter is Brother Son, Sister Moon, a 1973 film about Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecologists.

These references play out quite literally. Hearst presented a series of hand painted bags, knit sets, printed blankets, and quilts—created in collaboration with the artisans at Gee’s Bend—that emulate natural scenes at various levels of vitality in their color schemes and subject matter: An arid landscape is printed on the front of a jumper, for instance, in contrast to fields of red flowers, a mountain lake, that exist on the reverse. In regards to Saint Francis, Chloé went for self-described “monastic looks”—puffed long sleeves and tunics, combined with other Middle Ages elements like breastplates and scalloped silhouettes.

Despite its involved concept, the presentation was cohesive and visually stunning. Above all, it was progressive: With focused intention and meaningful collaboration, it’s the type of fashion show that could set an example for the present, and future to come.