Designer Q+A: HEIRLOME
Designer Stephanie Suberville launched Heirlome to celebrate the quiet power of generational craft, merging impeccable tailoring with centuries-old technique to create one-of-a-kind collections in close collaboration with master artisans in Mexico.
We're thrilled to welcome Heirlome to Sunroom this month and sat down with Stephanie to talk about designing between Mexico and New York, the stories woven into each garment, and what it means to create something truly worth passing down.
You’ve lived and worked in both Mexico and New York, two places rich with different creative energies. How do those worlds show up in the work you make now?
Both Mexico and New York affect my work a lot. Mexico in a more literal way, as we collaborate each season with a different Mexican artisan in our prints, embroideries, and our rebozos.
New York is more nuanced but equally important. I have lived here for 20 years, and even though I love drama in clothes they have to be functional and wearable for New York life; if I can’t envision it working in the city I don’t design it. I also use very muted neutral colors and a lot of black, which is very reflective of the New Yorker in me.
How do you choose the artisan partners you work with?
There’s many different ways we choose the artisans. My parents have been collecting artesania for many years, some of our collaborators I met through family, some I looked up in books, others I discovered while traveling when I purchased their work and then went on to build a relationship from there. We don’t have rules or a set system, however we have worked mostly with traditional artisans focused on traditional Mexican artesania, what you would call folk art in the US.
Most artisans we work with have indigenous backgrounds and they are working to keep their traditions alive. They all come from different areas in Mexico, with different stories, but most are 3-5th generation artists carrying on the family legacy and striving to preserve their heritage. In our own way, we work with them to promote their work.
The specific artisan whose pieces are at Sunroom are made by Jose de Jesus Alvarez Nogal, who I discovered in a book called Fomento Cultural.
Can you walk us through the story of a favorite piece in this collection: from the original artwork or inspiration, to how it was translated into fabric or form, and the choices you made along the way to preserve its integrity?
We always start with the artisan collaboration first: for the Pre-Fall 2025 season, the artisan Jose de Jesus Alvarez Nogal used many colors, and while we usually stick to a muted color palette I was inspired by the palette of his work, specifically his use of yellow ochre and blue.
The resulting print is very organic and traditional, which I contrasted with minimal, architectural shapes and a drama that comes in through the draping. For fabrics, I focused on silks that have a roundness and a stronger weft: silk shantung, silk dupioni, and silk twill.
What have been some of the biggest surprises that have come out of working so closely with traditional artisanship and craft?
I really don't provide too much direction to the artisans we partner with. I commit to using their work before they start, and then I build the whole collection around what I receive from them. I don’t change it.
It's challenging, as it’s a different starting point every season, from a completely new person, in a totally different place...but that’s what keeps it interesting. If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure how it would work when we first started. I worried I might get something and not know how to work with it, but so far it’s been really amazing, rewarding, and an emotional journey for me.
I became a U.S. citizen in 2019, and I was feeling very nostalgic for Mexico and Mexican culture—Heirlome was born out of those feelings.
Do you have a personal heirloom that holds personal meaning to you?
This Christmas, my husband's parents gifted me the wedding ring that belonged to my father’s in-law's mother. It brought me to tears and was such a special moment: it's common to get heirlooms from your own parents, but to receive one from my in-laws (I have been married for 12 years) felt like a gesture of being truly welcomed into this family, too. It’s very special to me.
Rapid Speed Round!
I start my mornings with… my kids (and a cup of coffee)
A book I recommend to everyone: Just Kids by Patti Smith
An unexpected source of inspiration for me is… music. Whatever I’m listening to during the design of a collection really impacts the mood and the assortment.
My favorite escape for a long weekend or staycation getaway: Upstate NY or anywhere we can ski.
3 things always in my bag are: sunglasses, Band aids, my laptop
The songs or playlist I'm listening to on repeat: a lot of Natalia Lafourcade, particularly her version of "Cucurrucucú Paloma," Fiona Apple “Extraordinary Machine” (or anything on her iTunes originals album, and anything from Los Angeles Azules
Where I'm traveling this year… Spain, going to San Sebastián and Madrid
A color combination I’m loving right now: orange and sky blue
