Founded in 2022 by Stephanie Suberville and her husband, Jeffrey Axford, Heirlome is a womenswear label built on the preservation of heritage and craft. Suberville’s path began in 2004 when she moved to New York to study at Parsons School of Design. From there, she went on to hone her skills at houses like Rag & Bone and La Ligne before launching Heirlome with Axford. Together, they built a label rooted in durability and artistry, producing garments from materials like deadstock calf leather, Italian wools, and silks. While the line is largely crafted in New York City, each season Heirlome introduces an original collaboration with a Mexican artisan.

Heirlome traces back to Stephanie Suberville’s childhood in Monterrey, Mexico, where her family’s love of Mexican artesanía turned everyday trips into journeys of discovery. Weekends often meant detours into small towns, stepping into workshops scented with wood, clay, and dye, while her parents sought out handmade pieces to add to their collection.

From these trips, she learned that each region of Mexico carries its own creative language and that to value artisans is to keep culture itself alive. That lesson—that craft is a living legacy—became the foundation for Heirlome. Even its name carries that weight: drawn from “heir” and “lome” (meaning tool) and rooted in the Middle English word for heirloom, it reflects the belief that craftsmanship itself is an inheritance to be preserved and passed on.

Artisan Collaborations

Heirlome’s creative backbone is its partnerships with artisans. From Talavera tile makers in Puebla to weavers in Chiapas, and embroiderers in Oaxaca, every new Heirlome collection spotlights a collaboration with a Mexican artisan.

Among them is Arturo Estrada Hernandez, a master backstrap weaver from Santa María del Río, Mexico, celebrated for his rebozo shawls. For Heirlome’s debut collection, Estrada reimagined a vintage rebozo once belonging to Stephanie Suberville’s mother, translating its design into pieces that carried both heritage and personal history. In collaboration with Tonalá ceramist José Pajarito, the brand translated his signature flora and fauna motifs into fine silk prints, carrying his storytelling from clay to cloth.

Other partners have included Juana Gómez Ramírez and Angelico Jiménez Hernández, whose work reflects generations of inherited technique through sculpture, as well as the famed workshop of Jacobo and María Ángeles, known for their intricate woodcarving and painted detail.

Together, these collaborations underscore Heirlome’s mission to preserve old-world craftsmanship by weaving them directly into the language of modern womenswear.

Ancestral Craftsmanship

Heirlome’s work with “forgotten traditions” is more than rhetoric: they revive motifs and techniques (some centuries old) that are rarely seen in contemporary fashion.

By collaborating directly with artisans who have mastered these skills passed down through generations, Heirlome not only preserves cultural lineages but also reimagines them in silhouettes that make these traditions relevant and wearable for the modern woman.

“Heirlome’s work with ‘forgotten traditions’ is more than rhetoric: they revive motifs and techniques dating back centuries.”

Photo: Heirlome.com

Tailoring Meets Craft

The hallmark of Heirlome is marrying artisanal detail with precision tailoring. When we first discovered Heirlome, what struck us most was how seamlessly the brand integrated artisans’ work into its garments. Their craft was never treated as an afterthought or a decorative layer, but as the starting point of each design.

Every season begins with prints. Months ahead, Suberville engages artisans with full creative freedom to reinterpret their motifs — often in hand-drawn or painted form. Once the artwork arrives in New York, it becomes the blueprint: the fabrics (often silk-wool from small Venetian mills or other sustainable sources) are selected, and the motifs are digitally printed, cut, and integrated into the pattern and tailoring. It’s a reverse-engineered process where craft informs structure, not the other way around. The result is a collection where every piece meticulously balances the hand of the artisan and the discipline of the atelier. 

Slow Luxury & Longevity

Heirlome is built on a commitment to longevity and intentional design. The brand consistently sources fabrics from small, sustainable mills, prioritizing natural fibers and materials whose integrity endures beyond seasonal cycles. Suberville personally visits the factories she partners with and has long-standing relationships with them. This hands-on approach ensures every piece is made with transparency and care, designed to last and to honor the craft at its core.