Cult Gaia has set a new date for its Los Angeles fashion show. Originally scheduled for Nov. 2, it’s now happening Nov. 14. No word yet on why the change — or on the exact location.
Designer Jasmin Larian Hekmat told WWD staging the 2024 resort presentation in her hometown was a no-brainer: “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 will be a see-now, buy-now concept, with shoppers able to purchase pieces after the show. 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 said, focusing instead on expanding in retail. In January, Hekmat unveiled her first store, a flagship on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, Calif. And she’ll next open a second location in Miami in December.
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).
