Holly Hastie, founder and creative director of the eponymous girlswear brand, discusses her extensive career in fashion design, how she moved into childrenswear and is now celebrating 10 years in business, and why she loves dresses.
Laura Turner: Can you tell me about your career background?
Holly Hastie: I graduated from university with an Honours Degree in Fashion and Textiles and was offered a job immediately in central London designing for an upmarket independent womenswear company. It was a fast learning curve but a fantastic role as a new graduate, providing me with an excellent grounding in designing all aspects of womenswear, knitwear, wovenwear, jersey, exclusive print and embroidery design. It also set me in good stead for my next role designing for Marks & Spencer, which was an education in fabric sourcing from Europe, particularly the Italian print and woven mills that we would visit in Tuscany to develop exclusive fabrics.
I then had the opportunity to work in Sydney, Australia designing for Jigsaw, working closely with the founder developing ranges that suited the warm climate whilst keeping the Jigsaw identity. I loved living in Sydney but I missed the buzz of London life, so I returned to manage a team specialising in designing dresses for all occasions for Marks & Spencer. I loved this role working with my team of designers, pattern cutters and sample machinists, creating new styles and developing fabrics from Europe. I think it is where my love of dresses came from.
In my career of 20 years in womenswear, I was fortunate to work with some very inspirational people. During my time as Head of Design for Etam I worked in London and Paris and managed designers in both capitals. We would analyse the catwalk trends in great detail to create the ranges for the Etam stores across Europe. However, my last role in womenswear was probably my favourite. I joined Jigsaw in London to create the Kew brand alongside Jigsaw’s founder, who is a very inspirational person, and his passion and knowledge of the business were fascinating. My role encompassed everything from designing the product ranges, working closely with the overseas factories, buying, overseeing the photoshoots, managing the press and PR team, and communicating the ranges to our store staff and customers, through to managing the visual merchandising team and working closely on the business side with the managing director. The rounded experience I gained being involved with all aspects of the business stood me in good stead for running my own business. The extensive international travel over those 20 years also provided me with a global perspective on retail, which has been key to the international success of my own brand, Holly Hastie.
LT: Congratulations on Holly Hastie’s 10th anniversary. What originally inspired the brand’s creation?
HH: Thank you, it has been a very rewarding 10 years. I wanted to have a business that could combine all my favourite things: family, fashion and travel. After decades in London and a few years in Sydney, I now live with my family on the coast near a beach that provides a great work/life balance. When I was designing for other companies I had always wanted to start my own business, it had always interested me, and I wanted to have the chance to run my own company and create my own brand.
When I worked for Jigsaw in both Sydney and London, I worked very closely with the founders. They were both very inspirational and taught me a great deal about creating a brand. When my daughter was five years old it seemed the right time, and girlswear was the obvious choice. Children are such fun; they are often romantics and have vivid imaginations. They simply love dressing up in pretty dresses and our daughter was no exception, she was a fantastic inspiration and enjoyed modelling for the brand for many years.
LT: What influences your designs?
HH: Holly Hastie specialises in contemporary, classic, luxury party and occasion dresses. We want to spread joy and to make each girl who wears our dresses feel extra special. We have a strong international customer following where celebrations are an integral part of life, and it is very important to our customers that their children stand out from the crowd and wear something unique and distinct from their contemporaries. Our dresses are designed with happy moments in mind: whether it be a birthday party, a family gathering, or a celebration. Colour, fun and laughter are always central to the creation of each dress, which is adorned with ribbons, bows and a touch of sparkle. Our dresses can be styled formally but also worn with more casual accessories for a playful daywear look.
With my background in womenswear design, much of my inspiration comes from the current womenswear catwalk collections. I look at the styling and details of the women’s collections and see how they can be interpreted for my children’s dresses. Sometimes it’s a bow detail, a fabric combination, or a colour palette. I studied the history of fashion as part of my degree, and I often take inspiration from historical costumes and paintings as well as vintage pieces.
LT: What are your ‘must-haves’ when designing Holly Hastie collections?
HH: Comfort is paramount. Even with more formal styles, children need to be able to move freely. I am always most comfortable in a dress and I think girls are too; you are free to run around without any uncomfortable restrictions. What I love about dresses is that they are a complete outfit, there is no need to think about what to wear with it, simply pop it over your head and you’re done. You can have fun styling a dress any way you choose, pairing it with pumps or trainers for a casual day look or dressing it up with ballet flats or Mary Janes to give a more formal feel. Dresses are just so easy, and they give children the ability to dress themselves, be comfortable, and feel amazing. You always look great wearing a dress, it can take you anywhere.
Good quality fabrics are also very important to me. Our dresses are made to last not just for special occasions but to be worn again and again and styled for more casual days, too. Each of our dresses can last children a few years. As they grow taller, it doesn’t matter if the hemline gets a bit shorter. Once the girls have grown out of the dresses they can be handed on to friends and family, making them a great investment per wear piece. I love to hear how our dresses have had many lives between sisters and friends, with different children enjoying styling the dresses in their unique way.
LT: What do you offer in terms of ranges?
HH: As I mentioned, our customers like to celebrate a lot. We offer four collections a year, and we aim to design perfect dresses for every occasion for babies through to teens. In the spring our range of dresses focuses on occasionwear, flower girls, wedding guests, ceremonies and Easter celebrations. In the summer we focus on fresh printed and embroidered cotton day dresses, perfect for holidays. In the autumn and winter, we are very much geared towards the party season and the Christmas holiday celebrations, when the dresses have a bit of extra sparkle. Our new range of Little Princess dresses are designed with little ones in mind, from babies to age eight years. They are hand-smocked with embroidered details making them contemporary classics perfect for sharing with family and friends.
LT: What would you highlight as some of your bestselling styles over the last decade?
HH: Each season there are new bestsellers and some of our most popular dresses from the early years are still firm favourites. Our sequin dresses are all-time winners and are always very popular for parties and New Year’s Eve celebrations. Our bridesmaid and special occasion dresses are particularly popular in the spring and summer. The Christmas collection is loved by boutiques internationally, where some of their customers like to dress all their daughters in the same dress across all ages for family gatherings. Dresses are great for this as they can be styled differently to be age appropriate.
LT: How do you feel the childrenswear industry has changed over the last 10 years?
HH: The most marked change we have noticed is that since the Covid pandemic, customers are much more confident to buy online, both B2C and B2B. In the early days, we would connect with buyers by showing the collections at childrenswear trade shows in London, Florence, Paris and New York. The trade shows are still important, and it’s great to meet our boutique and store customers face-to-face and do business in person, but they are much more confident in ordering via online wholesale platforms. Our B2C customers are also much more confident buying online, and a significant portion of our business is via internet platforms selling worldwide as well as through our own website.
LT: What are your plans for the business?
HH: We will continue to design dresses for all occasions, including expanding our popular new collection of hand-smocked Little Princess dresses available in the younger age group, which are designed to become modern heirlooms to be passed from generation to generation.
We want to spread the message ‘Invest in a dress.’ We feel it is better for customers to invest in a few high-quality, well-designed dresses for their children, that can be styled in various ways; perfect for formal occasions through to playdates. Being a whole outfit, dresses are better for the environment, as they reduce the manufacturing process and need less packaging. We also want to encourage our customers to enjoy our dresses and wear them for longer and when their children have outgrown them, to pass them on to friends and family or resell them, so that they can have another life bringing joy.
For further information on Holly Hastie, please click here.
