Christmas in Solidarity

December 11, 2023 Read time 5

With New Year's Eve, Christmas, and New Year's Day, the upcoming weeks promise to be festive. Moments of sharing and conviviality, the year-end festivities roll out the red carpet for precious moments and significant hours; a period of excitement in which brands may be tempted to add their touch.

For Hast, whose honesty is the cardinal value, this chapter constitutes a paradoxical space every year. On one hand, it seems legitimate for us to participate in the festivities by offering our creations to anyone who would like to indulge. On the other hand, we regret the consumerist madness that takes hold of the last weeks of December and deplore taking part at our modest level.

In this context, we are extra vigilant to balance the strategic importance of this period economically and the principles we have upheld since 2012.

While we embrace the commercial aspect of our Christmas offering, which revolves this year around responsible gift ideas for all budgets, we ensure to accompany it with sustainable and lasting charitable actions.

In line with our commitments to fairness, transparency, and eco-consciousness, we perceive the year-end festivities less as a business opportunity than as a chance to convey a certain idea of clothing, as we will show in this article.

Hast and the dream of an Honest Christmas

In all transparency, the Christmas period is a major challenge for any business. Despite the context and inflation, the French continue to allocate a significant budget for the year-end festivities, which is why most clothing brands generate a substantial part of their revenue in December.

To capitalize on this situation, many brands multiply commercial activities, Black Friday-type operations, and Christmas promotions. A safe and somewhat opportunistic way to boost their performance as the end of the fiscal year approaches. The flip side is that others pay the price at the other end of the production chain (the planet and exploited workers foremost).

At Hast, we have forbidden ourselves from falling into this trap. This decision necessarily represents a loss for our structure, but it seems appropriate to our deep-seated values. Choosing means renouncing.

Far from mercantile agitation and overconsumption, we value the idea of a sober and responsible Christmas. For us, placing happiness under the Christmas tree means offering high-quality pieces, made in Europe with natural and/or recycled materials. Contrary to all kinds of sales, we uphold a fair price 365 days a year. A way to give lasting pleasure, with clothes that will endure.

Our Charitable Actions

In addition to our main missions, we maintain a decidedly charitable spirit, which is manifested through initiatives on a brand scale:

Donation of new products. As every year, we donate new pieces to the AIDES association to help them raise funds for their annual Grand Sale. We also provide for "La Cravate Solidaire," an organization that helps people in need reintegrate into the workforce.

Aid in recycling. Thanks to bins in our Parisian and Lyonnais stores, we collect your end-of-life clothing for recycling.

Combatting isolation. Every year, between 10 and 20% of French people spend Christmas alone. In 2023, we chose to partner with "Une Lettre Un Sourire" to allow our customers to send letters to isolated elderly people. We collect these notes in-store and will send them for the festive season, as a gesture of our thoughts for those who won't have the chance to spend these holidays with family or friends.

Solidarity wardrobe sale. This is a project we are currently setting up and will likely take place in early 2024. The idea is quite unique: we would like to gather influencers and offer them to sell some pieces from their personal wardrobe as part of a wardrobe sale day, with profits subsequently donated to a partner organization. Interested? Keep your eyes wide open.

Our Wishlist to Santa Claus for Honest Holidays

Before we bid you farewell, we wanted to share our to-do list for holidays as Honest as possible. Between the survival guide and the user manual, this little reminder modestly brings together some tips to make Christmas as responsible as it is enjoyable.

In all humility, here are our recommendations:

Use the holidays to declutter, recycle, sell, or donate. Clothes, toys, hygiene products, books: we all have dozens of unused items dreaming of a second life (and that would undoubtedly make someone happy somewhere).

Give Honest gifts. In line with what we said earlier, it can be tempting to take advantage of the seasonal commercial operations to multiply packages. However, we never spoil as much as when offering a valuable gift: high-quality clothing, symbolically charged creations, or a lasting present are infinitely more valuable than a handful of disposable trinkets - even if they seem funny or cute at the moment (hello llama plushies and office billiards). Whatever we buy, let's make sure to think long-term, monitor materials, and check the place of manufacture to do so consciously and responsibly.

Prioritize reusable packaging. In France, single-use gift wraps represent thousands of tons of waste every year, and that's a problem. To wrap without polluting, we have two ideas in mind: either rely on reusable packaging to be brought out every year, or take inspiration from the Japanese art of furoshiki. This is a traditional fabric folding technique used to package and/or transport gifts, food, and other everyday items.

Avoid overconsumption. Whether it's gifts, meals, or decorations, there's no need to go overboard to have a good time. If you want our opinion, "less but better" is always the better choice.

Write a note to "Une Lettre Un Sourire." It's a small note for us but possibly a big message for its recipient. To do it from a phone, the QR code is available here.

Don't underestimate the power of a gift card. Lack of inspiration, doubt about the size, or hesitation about the color? The gift card will solve all your hesitations. Just choose an amount to hit the bullseye every time.

Recycle as much as possible. Food, table waste, various packaging: let's make an effort to recycle what can be recycled so that the planet digests the year-end festivities better than we digest that last slice of Yule log we can't resist.