STYLE NOTES

Meet Hesperios Founder Autumn Hruby, a Journalist and Accidental Knitwear Designer with a Cult Following

Hesperios founder Autumn Hruby never planned to be a fashion designer.


PORTRAIT OF AUTUMN.jpg
Courtesy of Hesperios

Hesperios founder Autumn Hruby never planned to be a fashion designer. Her multi-platform brand initially began as a publication, inspired by Rei Kawakubo’s SIX and Lapham’s Quarterly. “I wanted to make something more personal than what I’ve seen in the magazine print world or rather, I’m trying to create that same feeling of seeing an artist’s sketch book for the first time, of one you admire. I also wanted to make something where I could feature friends and the people I meet through my travels,” she explained. It was only when artist Jim Drain gave Hruby some colorful yarn that she was inspired to enroll in knitting classes in Brooklyn, attend textile workshops in Jaipur, India, and eventually launch knitwear under the same name. Now, Hruby has a line of “timeless basics that can be worn season after season” made out of Peruvian wool. “I wanted to work specifically with Alpaca because it’s a luxurious material that doesn’t really pill,” she explained. “My friend Yuki use to be a knit specialist in the fashion industry and put me in touch with the family owned factory I produce with in Lima.” Here, the New York-based designer opens up about running her multi-faceted business, her personal style, and more.

Fashion Designer Autumn Hruby

Looks from the Hesperios Spring Summer 2017 collection

Courtesy of Stella Berkofsky

Looks from the Hesperios Spring Summer 2017 collection

Courtesy of Stella Berkofsky

Looks from the Hesperios Spring Summer 2017 collection

Courtesy of Stella Berkofsky

Looks from the Hesperios Spring Summer 2017 collection

Courtesy of Stella Berkofsky

Looks from the Hesperios Spring Summer 2017 collection

Courtesy of Stella Berkofsky

Looks from the Hesperios Spring Summer 2017 collection

Courtesy of Stella Berkofsky
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Describe your style in three words: Timeless, feminine, casual.

Images on your mood board: Gilda Radner, a Langlois engraving of the back of a Poppy, a portrait of Virginia Shaw painted by Bernard Boutet de Monve, a life study of kneeling woman by Matisse.

Knitwear inspiration: 1970’s Martha’s Vineyard, countryside walks and road trips, wild flower fields in Gotland, cozying up reading a book, dinner gatherings with friends..

Favorite stores: Tortoise in Venice Beach, BOOK/SHOP in Oakland and New York; OFR in Paris; Totokaelo, La Garconne, Maryam Nassir Zadeh, and No. 6 in New York; Do You Read Me in Berlin.

Preferred footwear: K. Jacques sandals or ballet flats.

Latest artist obsession: Klara Kristalova’s glazed stoneware.

Favorite New York haunts: Café Sabarsky, Nat’l Arts Club, Waverly Inn.

Night out look: The Fårö Hesperios unisex sweater in forest green paired with a black leather pencil skirt and black flats.

Beauty secrets: Sleep, water, Biologique Recherche.

Best recent discovery: Ralph Fiennes’ dance moves in A Bigger Splash.

Style pet peeve: Fedoras, not all of them, but you know the type.

Last purchase: A deformed white vase with yellow and orange paint strokes I found sitting in a dark corner of a workshop in Grottaglie, Puglia. I like the imperfections in ceramics.

Lusting after: A trip to Azores, Portugal, and Italian capers.

Always in your bag: I always have a notebook, pen, and RMS vanilla lip + skin balm.

Style icons: Lauren Hutton, Charlotte Rampling, Kim Basinger in 9 1⁄2 Weeks. Also, Sandrine Bonnaire in À nos amours, Irène Jacob in The Double Life of Véronique.

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