Jeremy Hershan’s move from bags into clothing
Australia’s newest label feels as though it has been around forever.
This time last year, we asked the Australian designer Jeremy Hershan what the word timelessness meant to him. Having launched a range of take-everywhere, carry-everything utilitarian cotton canvas tote bags, he was keen to honour what he believed was a dual interpretation.
“On the one hand it’s about quality that stands the test of time, and on the other a sense of eternal style,” he explained. “It’s about timeless goods that endure. Products to live a full life and be all the better for their experience.”
While the brand name didn’t last (Hershan was replaced after a season with the more universal Haulier International), such has been the popularity of the bags, with their simple half-moon shape, double-line pattern and leather handles, that it seems Haulier is here to stay.
“I saw an opportunity around an elevated take on everyday items, the tote bag being the first of those,” explains Hershan today. “I really wanted to use my training and luxury background and apply that to utilitarian products anyone can use, and I think that’s what’s been so good about the bag, and what I’ve learned through the process is that it’s not gender specific, it’s not age specific… it appeals to all sorts of different people from all different walks of life.”
It’s this philosophy that underpins the initial range of tote bags, which now sell via coveted retail destinations such as MatchesFashion.com, that Hershan hopes to build on with the launch of his debut ready-to-wear collection. “Again, this is about offering a wardrobe of elevated everyday pieces that I think anyone can wear,” he adds.
On first impression, Haulier’s Spring Summer 2022 collection, titled Sweet Heart Sweet Light, is incredibly simple, consisting of button-down shirting, lightweight tailoring, denim jeans, mercerised tees and elastic-waist shorts, much of it emblazoned with Haulier’s signature ’60s mod “H” brandmark. “There are elements of sportswear and utility and military influences,” says Hershan, before detailing the backstories of some of the key pieces. Some of the unisex shirting was modelled on a vintage French sailing smock, while others were directly inspired by 1970s Australian military pyjama sets, here rendered in a luxurious Japanese cotton-linen blend. “I love mixing the different codes, different styles – sportswear with tailoring,” adds Hershan. “Just really messing with how you would normally see these things worn.”
In speaking with the designer, it’s obvious that every element of the collection – from raw material to finished product – has been considered. The motocross T-shirts, for example, have been developed from an incredibly fine mercerised cotton mesh (a technique that makes the fabric more lustrous and longer-lasting) in lieu of the polyester they might usually be made from. Selvedge denim, considered unique because of the slower pace of the shuttle loom in which it’s made, is woven in Japan, with the jeans then crafted in Portugal, where the designer laboured over a vintage wash that looked authentic rather than contrived.
It’s these details that, inevitably, come back to the core range of bags, each individually handcrafted in Portugal. They’re woven to size on mid-century-era shuttle looms from hard-wearing cotton canvas, rejecting the use of synthetic fibres such as polyester, which contribute to the global plastic pollution problem. While time-consuming and intensive, the process ensures there is zero cutting waste in the production process, adhering to the sustainable ethos that underpins Hershan’s business. “My mission was always to use the totes as a foundation for a broader collection,” he explains. “We’ve been building a nice audience and community around the brand, which gave us the confidence to really progress with our plans. In the end it comes back to that foundation though: it’s about the beautiful components and the attention to detail, a focus on natural fibres and traditional manufacturing techniques – all of these things are now being applied to the clothes.”
The ready-to-wear collection is set to be released next month, in line with the launch of spring/summer collections in the northern hemisphere, but already the response to Haulier’s pivot into clothing has been overwhelmingly positive, says the designer. “People are genuinely excited about it because it feels really international; there’s this really high level of quality to the product, but we’ve also taken the imagery to the next level and our audience seems pleasantly surprised to see an Australian brand with a very global proposal.”
That Hershan’s previous experience includes senior roles at British heritage brands Aquascutum, Gieves & Hawkes and Dunhill explains the ambitiousness of his first personal business project. Prior to treading cautiously into the role of business owner, Hershan served as the head of design at Australian luxury leather goods and outerwear label R.M. Williams for three years, during which time it was majority owned by L Catteron, a private equity affiliate of French multinational luxury conglomerate LVMH. Haulier, with its fully realised identity and high-quality supply chain, has completely eschewed the markings of an emerging label, its founder pitching the brand not alongside his contemporaries but rather at the very brands he worked for in the past.
While the launch of ready-to-wear is a significant next step in the growth of his business, Hershan isn’t stopping there, with plans this year to open his own concept store to start, as he explains, to build a world around the collections. “Right now, we sell online and via boutiques, but my creative space here [in Redfern, Sydney] doesn’t allow me to build that connection with people directly, to tell the story of Haulier, so I’m looking for a retail space that I can also be based in,” he says.
“I’ve always felt that there was room for a great Australian lifestyle brand in that accessible luxury space, and I think my unique point of view is that what sets Haulier apart is a really authentic quality and craftsmanship. It’s about product that’s not transient or seasonal but can be built on over time.”
King of the mountain: how Kenton Cool took over Everest – and you can too. For a price.
The Brit’s summited the world’s highest peak 18 times, and for $500,000, he’ll take you up with him.
From the law to the arts: Peter Jopling gives us a tour of the new Potter Museum of Art
Throughout his 45-year career, the barrister counterbalanced his day job as one of Australia’s leading King’s Counsels with his passion for the creative industries.