More than a motto, a state of mind
At Hast, honesty is a core value. A guiding principle. Since 2012, it has shaped our wardrobe, the way we build it and how we see our role. Behind our slogan « Honest everyday » lies a genuine ethic, to which we devote today’s article.
Honesty every day, from day one
For the record, Hast is simply the acronym for the expression « Honest And Simple Trend ». From the outset, the notion of honesty was sufficiently central to form an integral part of the project, even determining its name. A decade later, it remains just as present, displayed more proudly than ever on our caps, T-shirts and knitwear.
And with good reason: the motto « Honest everyday » is accompanied by a code of conduct that informs even the smallest of our initiatives. More than a statement of intent, it is for us an authentic commitment, a genuine promise and a categorical imperative. At Hast, honesty is understood less as a benevolent stance than as an active, concrete and measurable approach. As a company, brand, subcontractor, client or clothing designer, we make it a cardinal value and ensure that we place honesty at the heart of all our interactions, with our partner craftspeople, our customers and our colleagues.
« Honest everyday », a signature brought to life
At Hast, we make a point of making honesty the driving force behind our business, at every level:
1. In the making of our garments
At the heart of an industry sadly renowned for its harmful impact, honesty is all the more precious for being rare. Across our wardrobe, it takes many forms.
- First and foremost, we use only natural or recycled raw materials, most often certified. For your health, the planet, care and recyclability, this is a point on which we do not compromise, and we are proud to have achieved this goal.
- Next, we carefully select our partners in Europe, using demanding criteria in terms of CSR, craftsmanship and proximity. A way of ensuring you receive high-quality products, made by craftspeople whose working conditions we know and whose expertise we recognise.
- Finally, we design timeless, enduring garments. Reliable, comfortable, well-considered cuts, unaffected by the passing of time and trends. In short, a guarantee of permanence.
- We offer all of this to you at a fair price all year round, without unreasonable margins or hidden costs. That, too, is honesty.
2. In our communication
Given the opacity of the textile industry, it was important for us to uphold this ambition for honesty in our communications, both internally and externally. Once again, this aspiration takes several forms.
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First, we hope to make our garments the vehicles for a set of values. It is not simply about consciously making exceptional pieces, but about conveying a certain idea of responsibility, sound judgement and common sense. Our silhouette is not only that of the Hast man, but also an allegory of simplicity and exacting standards.
- Secondly, we strive to ensure the traceability of our creations so that you can invest with full knowledge of the facts. For example, we have committed ourselves to the CELC (European Confederation of Linen and Hemp) to trace and guarantee the origin of our linen. Trust is a key part of our approach, and our decade of experience in the sector has enabled us to build lasting relationships with European workshops based in Portugal, Italy, the Baltic States and Scotland. Though still modest, the trend towards reshoring also helps us introduce a growing amount of « Made in France » into our collections, much to our delight.
- Thirdly, we foster a genuine culture of transparency, whether in our methods, our pricing policy or our environmental impact. On the latter point, we were able to rely on consultancy UTOPIES® to carry out our voluntary carbon assessment. A testament to our desire to always do less and do better, it is available in full on our website.
3. In our professional relationships
Internally and externally alike, we embrace this ambition for honesty. And with good reason: we are fully aware that leading by example must begin with us, in the office. Indeed, the signature « Honest everyday » also serves as a model for our colleagues, guiding our daily exchanges and decisions alike.
In our view, this alignment within the team underpins its cohesion, strength and unity. As a result, it ensures perfect consistency between our ends and our means, providing a guarantee of coherence and a promise of viability.
Honest Everyday, how it works
If we have allowed ourselves to embroider our signature on our T-shirts, our sweatshirts, our caps or our anniversary jersey, it is precisely because the commitments mentioned above made this decision legitimate, in our view. In an era of widespread greenwashing, it would have been unthinkable to display such a message without concrete action, and we did so only because a decade of action gave us the right to.
With all due modesty and humility, this is a similar approach that we encourage you to adopt in order to dress responsibly. Love the pieces in your own wardrobe rather than those of your neighbour, care for them carefully, make them last even if it means mending them, favour natural materials whose wear and care are gentler than synthetic fibres, choose second-hand and/or local, responsible production when buying, learn to read labels and decipher brand communications, understand a garment’s production chain to better grasp its impact: these are the basic principles for putting honesty back at the heart of clothing consumption.
At Hast, this philosophy has been part of our DNA since the dawn of our story, and we know that our customers share both its principles and its approach
Honesty at your service
As the textile industry is one of the most polluting in the world, we are fully aware of the mission we have set ourselves. With honesty as our guiding principle, we remain true to our original promise: to offer accessible quality clothing by maximising its value while minimising its impact.
We embrace this ambitious goal by bringing together noble fibres, durable materials, impeccable craftsmanship, well-balanced, comfortable cuts and timeless pieces. We offer the latter at a fair price all year round, while maintaining absolute transparency in our pricing policy. Considered production, full traceability, European manufacturing, restrained and measured communication, honesty in our internal exchanges, in our business relationships with partner workshops, and in our interactions with you online and in store: this has been our formula since 2012, and we have no plans to change it.
While we claim neither superiority nor perfection, aware that we still have considerable room for improvement in each of the areas mentioned above, we can at least say without blushing that we are doing our best. In the social, economic and climate context we face, we humbly work to dress change with dignity, realism and honesty; and we are immensely grateful to have you by our side in shaping this future.
