The Webster founder Laure Heriard Dubreuil launches ready-to-wear label

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Nov 30, 2017

This November marks the culmination of Laure Hériard Dubreuil’s career as a fashion merchandiser and founder of The Webster. The French entrepreneur opened at the beginning of this month The Webster’s first New York City location in SoHo and has launched at the end of this month LHD, a new collection by Dubreuil; something that she describes as “her closet.”

 
Dubreuil’s love affair with Miami has been evident since she opened The Webster in the city in 2009. The fashion veteran used her experience with Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga and Stefano Pilati in Yves Saint Laurent as a launching pad to open the multi-brand store, which today operates in South Beach and Bal Harbour in Miami, Houston, Costa Mesa, and most recently New York City. Now, Dubreuil expands her fashion expertise into design with the launch of her first fashion label, LHD.
 
According to Dubreuil, clients, friends and peers had an influence on her decision to launch her new label. “Everyone had been asking me when I’m going to do my own line, and at the beginning, I thought are you crazy,” she joked. “Slowly the idea started to grow in my head.”

LHD is Dubreuil’s way of letting customers experience her wardrobe and try out pieces that seem intimidating but easily pair well with every day styles. The new line also captures Dubreuil’s upbeat personality, with fun shirt patterns that feature pink crocodile and pineapple, as well as her longtime fashion partnerships with Pierre Hardy, Linda Farrow and Eres, all of which designed collaboration pieces for the collection, specifically shoes, sunglasses and swimwear, respectively.
 
Miami remains an influence on Dubreuil’s expanding brand. LHD is colorful and makes reference to Miami tourism and motifs. Patterned dresses are playful and joined by hats for $45, vibrant shirts and robes, and bright sweatshirts and t-shirts featuring mock gift shop motifs and the label’s logo designed by French art and design partners Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag of M/M Paris.
 
“I have a lot of clients that love colorful clothing and prints but are scared to wear them,” said Dubreuil. “I wanted to give them something to try out that had a good price point.”
 
Dubreuil said that the development of The Webster New York City took four years and development of LHD took one year, but the finished products unintentionally launched concurrently in November. Perfect timing.