In the family of exceptional fabrics that your servants have been putting at the service of your daily life since 2012, we are now asking for ripstop.
A little marvel of performance and ingenuity, ripstop has one foot in the textile world and another in the military register , which gives it a unique place in the civilian wardrobe.
We used his services for our Spring/Summer 2025 collection , and it's only fitting that we take a moment to look into his case.
The military origins of ripstop
Closely linked to the invention of nylon in the 1930s, ripstop became known when the US Air Force decided to use it to cover the parachutes of its airborne units.
For obvious reasons, the US Army was looking for a stronger and more economical material than silk to equip its paratroopers, and it was towards ripstop that it turned during the Second World War . It must be said that the name of this material is programmatic since it literally means “stop tears”.
In fact, it is a classic plain weave with a tangle of vertical and horizontal threads; except that it has a reinforcement at regular intervals. Whether it is a double warp, a double weft or a thicker thread count, this reinforcement is visible to the naked eye and gives the ripstop its characteristic grid.
In practice, this consolidation system prevents a small snag from turning into a tear , as it is contained within a tiny, tightly fortified area. Tested and approved by US Army paratroopers, ripstop was then exported to other areas, draping tents as well as sleeping bags, ship sails, tarpaulins, flags and uniforms.
Hast and the choice of ripstop
As you can see, ripstop is a fabric in which we integrate reinforcement threads at regular intervals and within the fabric's grid to limit the expansion of a scratch. In addition to its strength, it is the lightness of ripstop that has made it famous, as this unique weave ensures optimal resistance to the least dense of materials.
At the intersection of engineering and functionality, this unique property has captivated textile lovers like us, convincing us to incorporate ripstop into Hast's collections. This has been the case for several seasons, and it's still the case this year. It's featured prominently on a work jacket and an overshirt from the Dolce Farniente collection, exceptional pieces that deserve our attention.
Our ripstop work jacket
Straddling the world of workwear and military heritage, this work jacket offers you the best of both worlds. From its working history, it retains a utilitarian spirit embodied by a straight cut, three patch pockets on the front, two hidden pockets on the back, and a buttoned tab at the cuff.
From its combative past, it also assumes the material: a top-quality ripstop , woven in a luminous khaki by Japanese experts.
With a density of 220 g/m², it is significantly lighter than its counterparts without being more fragile. Although our summer work jackets tend to weigh between 300 and 500 g/m², this one relies on the natural strength of its weave to ensure excellent durability.
It also brilliantly combines prodigious finesse and impressive robustness, imtely placing it among our most relevant summer jackets. A love of texture, allure and performance, to be seized now online and on our racks.
Our ripstop overshirt
For almost 15 years, the shirt has held a special place in the Hast wardrobe. It was around it that the brand was born in 2012, and this privileged status has never left it since. Over time, other pieces have joined the one that has become the emblem of our mission , thus completing an honest, sustainable and responsible men's wardrobe.
Among them, the overshirt plays a unique role since it is not a shirt in the strict sense , without being something else entirely. Quite early in our history, we wanted to integrate it into our collections, confident in its functionality and stylistic potential. An inspired decision since the overshirt is today one of the great classics of the contemporary men's wardrobe.
For summer, we've dressed it in a ripstop fabric that no longer holds any secrets for you... except for its weaver. Indeed, the fabric of your future overshirt speaks French since it comes straight from the workshops of Velcorex, a French company based a few kilometers from Mulhouse.
For us, its craftsmen have developed a fairly lightweight ripstop of 210 gr/m², made from a clever blend of 85% cotton and 15% linen. You will therefore have the characteristic checkerboard weave of ripstop, the comfort and softness specific to cotton but also the robustness, absorption and rustic feel of linen. Texture, performance and durability are thus combined in the same piece, which is also woven in France and made in Portugal. It's hard to do better.
It is beige, its cut is straight, its cuffs are adjustable thanks to a pair of buttons, its two chest patch pockets are protected by a flap, its American throat reveals 6 cat's eye buttons and an imposing 7 cm French collar crowns it all to offer you a piece of great character
The final word
Aesthetic and practical, light as a feather and solid as a rock, pleasant to wear as well as to look at, ripstop is one of those fabrics made iconic by its appearance and its properties.
It is undoubtedly its exceptional performance that has made it a staple from the front to the civilian wardrobe, from the parachute fabrics of American GIs to our jackets and overshirts.
Two iconic pieces cut from an equally iconic material, available now on Hastparis.com and in stores in Paris and Lyon.