Stephanie Suberville’s Heirlome, a runner-up of the 2025 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, is entering a new phase: the designer has left her second job to devote herself fully to her brand. One of the results of this shift is that Suberville can devote more time to her craft. “I actually ended up making the samples myself because I was enjoying working with my hands so much,” she enthused.
There are no shortcuts in this collection. The opening look, a top and skirt with hanging fabric tabs falling gently down the center front, is constructed of individually cut and sewn bands of fabric. And those aren’t even the most labor-intensive garments in the collection. When extended, a strapless ruched dress with drawstrings consists of 12 yards of fabric. The sample took three days to make; the ruching seven hours.
In keeping with past designs, Suberville made use of tassels, and worked with her regular collaborators, Madres y Artesanas Tex, on knits. She called this season’s pattern “miel” because of its honeycomb shapes. The collection features two creatures; Heirlome’s bees are accompanied not by birds, but by a snake. It slithered out of the imagination and hands of artisan Luis Manuel Morales who told Suberville he associated the reptile with fashion because it sheds its skin to take on a new guise. In his Purhépechan culture, a snake has positive connotations, being a symbol of rebirth and fertility. Fittingly, Suberville layered sheer organza (a kind of skin) over a skirt featuring the print.
Sinuosity aside, Suberville has a beautiful way of working with geometry, transforming straight lines into languorous drapes based on cut and tension. A stunning red column with a goddessy air would fit nicely into the classical section of “Costume Art,” the current Costume Institute exhibition at The Met. “The dress underneath is actually a full entire gown and then the top is just a square that has been pinched on top and draped,” she explained. The natural simplicity of the effect belies the ingenuity of the construction.
