HNST Expands Circular Vision from Denim to Clothing
Belgium-based HNST (pronounced “honest”) is focused on making a positive impact through denim. Founded in 2017, the company designs with circularity in mind, with details such as removable and replaceable buttons, 100 percent natural fibers—including cotton and TENCEL™—and back patches made of cellulosic Jacron instead of leather.
HNST co-founder Lander Desmedt became CEO of the company in 2019, and he has since transitioned HNST into a brand and honed the product appearance. Lander also led a recent investment round that raised almost 1 million euros.
Eva Engelen, sustainability and production manager at HNST, spoke with Carved in Blue about HNST’s expansion beyond denim to become a full clothing brand and its circular hope for the denim industry.
Carved in Blue: You recently completed an investment round. What does this mean for your company, and how are you planning to use the funding?
Eva: Closing this investment round is an important milestone as it will allow us to further develop HNST as a circular apparel brand.
We’re planning to broaden our collection beyond denim, adding other essentials each made with the same circular principles in mind. Moreover, we’re investing in R&D. Our roadmap for the coming years includes further increasing the percentage of recycled fibers in our jeans beyond 56 percent and developing a truly circular stretch fabric. Finally, we’re working on expanding our retail partnerships, bringing HNST to stores worldwide.
Carved in Blue: Could you describe some of your latest product developments? How do these reflect market demands?
Eva: In February, we launched our HNST tee, an essential T-shirt made from 80 percent recycled and 20 percent organic cotton. In March, we introduced an ecru and black fabric made with 80 percent and 56 percent recycled cotton, respectively. Each of these developments is tapping in to a need for high-quality garments made with the lowest impact possible.
Carved in Blue: One of the often mentioned talking points around sustainability is that clothing is priced too low, creating incentives for consumers to over shop. HNST has made the decision to actually lower retail prices to make a greater impact. Could you explain the idea behind this move, and what has been the effect so far?
Eva: As sustainable entrepreneurs, it is our duty to create alternatives that are equal in price, quality and style compared to conventional products. We believe that consumers make the right choice when they’re presented with well-founded options.
Carved in Blue: For HNST, what is the balance between business growth and sustainability? Is there a point at which you plan to cap production or sales to limit your environmental impact?
Eva: Our vision is that as long as we’re competing unsustainable jeans out of the market, there should be no cap. When our way of working has become the norm, we’ll happily establish a cap for our production and sales.
Carved in Blue: HNST was an early adopter of denim recycling. How have you seen circularity advance in denim since you started, and what room is there for further growth in this area?
Eva: Circularity in denim is slowly but surely moving from niche brands to mass market, a transition we can only support.
Unfortunately, for the majority of brands, the implementation of circular principles and processes stays quite superficial and lacks a holistic approach. We’ve seen brands introducing a limited percentage of recycled cotton into their collection and labelling it circular, downgrading what circularity truly is.
For the future, we’re hoping more players will implement the circular principles into every scope of their supply chain. So we can, together as an industry, unlock its full potential.
Carved in Blue: As HNST closes in on five years in business, how has the company’s strategy evolved in the past half-decade?
Eva: Our mission remains unchanged: to dress the world in a more honest way. Based on the learnings from our pilot collection in 2018, we did change our tactics. We reviewed our price point, perfected our fits and streamlined our visual identity. In short, we prepared HNST to become successful.
Carved in Blue: Your brand is all about being “honest.” From your perspective, what is the meaning of honesty for the fashion industry today?
Eva: For us, honesty is essential in creating transparency and responsibility in the fashion industry. No brand is perfect—neither are we—but by having nothing to hide we enable consumers to make the right choice. In today’s market, there are too many shades of green, and we believe that transparency is key when it comes to avoiding greenwashing.