In fashion, seasons come and go but are not alike. The start of spring and autumn are marked by the arrival - long awaited - of new collections. While our autumn-winter pieces will soon be available online and in stores, we have decided to reveal to you the behind the scenes of the creation of a collection. From the collection plan to the choice of fabrics, from the creation of a range of colours to the purchase of prototypes: at Hast, we evolve with the desire to offer you quality, durable and timeless pieces, always with an extra touch of style. Aware of the current challenges related to the sector, we do not run after novelty or trends, but seek to imagine an essential and everyday wardrobe, reflecting our inspirations of the moment.
To explain all the secrets of this work that spans more than a year, Sébastien, our stylist, took part in a question and answer game, during an exclusive interview. What are the steps to building a fashion collection? What are the inspirations? How to choose a material? Come on, we'll reveal everything to you!
Sébastien, what is the starting point of a collection at Hast?
At the beginning, we think about the collection plan by product category. We decide how many t-shirts, jackets, pants or shirts we want to produce. Each season is divided between new items and timeless items that are reissued, most of the time in a different material or color. Above all, we want to avoid overproduction by imagining a collection of pieces that combine style, timelessness and durability. Pieces that we enjoy wearing today and tomorrow.
How do you imagine the story you are going to tell?
First, I think about volumes, colors or materials. I try to see how these silhouettes can meet and complement each other. I don't imagine a collection according to invented stories or a return to a certain era, but rather by drawing inspiration from images or second-hand pieces. These clothes, borrowed from the past, have a unique heritage, more than imaginary trends, not realistic enough for my taste.
What inspires you?
My goal is not to reproduce something that already exists, but to bring a different and identifiable touch. When I designed my first collection plan for Hast, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Without playing the nostalgia card, I am very inspired by vintage pieces, with finishes and materials of exceptional quality. If I had to borrow something from them, it would be precisely this incomparable sense of detail: a basque, a swallow, a pocket shape, the seam of a trouser bottom, an original collar stand. There is something that is almost close to made-to-measure. This is in line with our ambition: to create clothes that last over time, beyond fashion effects.
Once the collection plan is established, how do you choose the materials?
Each material is chosen with the greatest care. We go to trade fairs and meet directly with suppliers, mostly Italian. We want to use fabrics with an interesting feature, such as a different texture. If we choose more basic materials, we then try to find the best quality.
To establish a collection, we make associations between a trouser fabric, a jacket fabric or a shirt fabric. We put all of this on a board and try to see if the whole is coherent. Is there a balance in terms of colours, drapes and reliefs? Do the clothes match? Is our silhouette credible? These are all aspects that we explore when making the decisive choice of materials.
Do you ever create custom materials?
For the SS23 collection, which we're working on right now, we did it for a work jacket. One of our Italian suppliers had a beautiful linen, but we wanted it in a heavier weight. We loved the texture, the material, the color, but it didn't fit the work jacket we were imagining. So we asked the supplier to make a fabric just for us.
Another important step in building a collection: how do you establish a color range?
Summer and winter, at Hast, color is very important. The fact that we only use natural materials for our collections allows us to have a range of very beautiful, varied and deep colors. Thus, there are very few dark colors and black is almost non-existent.
The choice of colors is made at the same time as the choice of fabrics. When we receive a fabric from a supplier, there is a connected range of colors. We do many tests of combinations between fabrics and colors to imagine silhouettes that we like.
At what point do you have a finished product in your hands?
Once the choices of colors and materials are made, we write the technical sheet of the garment, which we send to our manufacturer. The latter sends us a prototype, that is to say the assembled garment, as it will appear in the collection. At this stage, we keep the pieces that we are going to buy and we put aside those that we ultimately decide not to produce. We are very rational in our decisions and we do not want to develop anything, anyhow. This is part of our responsible approach which advocates more reasonable production and consumption.
The last step of a collection is to define the lookbook and shooting atmosphere that will be used on our site and in communication. We choose the models and the settings for the photos. It is a special moment where we see the clothing in context. We can't wait to present the new back-to-school collection to you. But for that, we will need a little more patience...
