The Start up Fashion week – or SFW – represents great opportunities for emerging designers to expand their network and obviously get first exposure to showcase their work. Yet as well, opportunities for new models to come to light. Lots of feverishness; so don’t miss it!
Check out SFW here.
For the occasion, I had the chance to meet up with the designer of Hatchi Design, Selma – and her adorable dog – last weekend for an interview. Absolutely lovely talk; she is so inspiring yet very down-to-earth. Excited to see her work later this week!
See her website here.
Follow her on instagram @hatchidesign
Follow her on Facebook @hatchidesignofficial
Indeed, Hatchi Design is part of the runway show this Friday evening. Selma and Hatchi Design will be present all 3 days; so you can all meet her and see for yourself just how amazing she is.
Then, let me introduce you to Selma and Hatchi Design!
1. Where did it all start?
“[small laugh] So, it all started with a dream. I’ve liked fashion for a long time and I wanted a project that was more creative [than what I was doing]. My mother used to work as a designer so I was bathing in this passion and then, this and that happened – such as the opportunity to be part of SFW – and Hatchi Design was born.”
2. As you’ve told me earlier, you’ve been thinking about it for a while but only recently have you truly made the jump.
“Exactly. In September of 2017, so just a few months ago! [laughs] So as my mom has been working all her life in this field, she could bring the technical part to the team; as I, having a financial background, it was pretty different. I am the one designing the clothing and drawing, and then she would help me see the feasibility of it [laughs] and more about the logistics, where to go to for materials, for manufacturing, etc.”
3. Why the name “Hatchi”? If my memory is right, this has some Japanese roots.
“Yes! ‘Hatchi’ has a lot of meanings and indeed one of them is that it means ‘8’ in Japanese. And for them, this number is associated to good fortune – which is obviously good! [laughs] And the logo – the inverted V – means ‘8’ in Arabic, which represents my own roots. As well, actually, there is this Japanese movie that is called ‘Hatchi’ with the dog [named Hatchi] and it makes me cry every time. And because of this very touching movie, I called my own dog here ‘Hatchi’, and when came the time to find a name for my brand, it was natural for me to call it Hatchi.”
4. What inspires you for Hatchi Design?
“A bit of everything. This is quite the boring answer but it’s true! Yet actually, I really like to play with symmetry and asymmetry. It’s really about the cut, the silhouette, rather than the pattern.”
5. It’s still quite minimalist, right?
“Yes! It’s about very neutral colours; it’s simple. I want it to be chic and at the same time very comfortable. We shouldn’t be compromising our comfort for our style. […] For example, we’ve designed a sweatpants that is very comfortable but as well very chic. We could wear it for at an evening outing very easily and not feel under-dressed! We like to work with the material to bring this aspect of comfort to something that often is not, and the same for chic.”
6. Talking about the materials, you decided to use more environmentally-friendly materials.
“Yes! We want to use more organic materials – like cashmere – for Hatchi Designs. And when that is not possible, to at least use recycled materials. It is very important for us to be ethical; and we are absolutely thrilled that the fashion industry is heading towards that avenue as well. It is not always easy to find beautiful materials that look good, respect what I have in mind for my designs AND are environmentally-friendly but we work hard with local partners to make it come true. We feel that it is important for our generation, so being ethical is definitely part of Hatchi Designs.”
7. So for the readers, who is Hatchi Design for?
“This initially started for me because I couldn’t find what I was looking for [laughs] so this is for someone like me. So, for the Millennial woman who cares about what she looks but doesn’t want to compromise her comfort nor the environment for her style. This is for the woman who feels accomplished, and knows how to treat herself – as this is high quality materials and designs – and like the minimalist style.”
8. And where can we find Hatchi Design?
“So we are launching our online store with the fashion show this week! Very excited. People will be able to order online from everywhere in Canada and to receive by mail everything.”
9. Lastly, how are you approaching the Start up Fashion Week?
“A lot of excitement. We are still doing some fine tuning as we are launching the brand itself too! We are going to have 10 models walking the runway for Hatchi Design; so this is not to be missed on Friday! And Wednesday and Thursday night, we will also be attending the networking events to meet fellow entrepreneurs but also the public. So come see us! [laughs]”
Note: This was a free translation from French
It was an absolute pleasure to talk to Selma, so I highly invite you to come talk to her. Wishing great success to Hatchi Design and now, let’s get ready for Start up Fashion Week!
If you haven’t yet, check out Hatchi Design before the show this Friday and come to the Start up Fashion Week! I’ll be there as well tomorrow – on Wednesday – and on Friday for the runway show. Cheers!
See her website here.
Follow her on instagram @hatchidesign
Follow her on Facebook @hatchidesignofficial
Check out SFW here.
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