This week, we speak with Debenham’s 2018 Menswear Award Winner Hannah Gibbins, who has launched her first eponymous collection under the Designers at Debenhams brand. Hannah talks us through her role, designing a capsule collection and next step for her career.
Once again showcasing the brand’s dedication to supporting new and emerging talent, Debenhams is delighted to introduce Hannah Gibbins to its menswear portfolio for AW19. As the winner of the Debenhams Menswear Design Award at Graduate Fashion Week 2018, this is Hannah’s first debut of her 13 piece capsule collection.
One of the main inspirations for the HCFG X Debenhams collection is the designer’s rural, Suffolk upbringing. Elements of the countryside can be seen throughout the collection in everything from the fabric choice to the design of the clothes.
The HCFG collection has a strong focus on layering, meaning that each piece is versatile and can be paired up separately. ‘Looking at the handmade crafts of basket weaving and thatched roofs – I wanted my range to be built up by layers and different textures,’ Hannah explains.
The collection sports an organic colour palette, with bases of navy and grey injected with spicy hues of mustard. The silhouettes are relaxed and oversized, making the fit key to the collection, with clear references to workwear detailing in a combination of wool blends and pure cottons.
With the countryside proving such an inspiration to Hannah, it is unsurprising that threads of sustainability are woven into the collection: ‘The T-shirt in the collection has been naturally dyed and also made out of recycled wool and nylon fibres,’ she says.
A key piece from the collection includes ‘The anorak hybrid,’ a great example of Hannah’s experimentation with formal fabrics and casual boxy silhouettes. The large pockets and raglan sleeves make this jacket a statement outerwear piece.
Another statement piece is the brushed check jacquard crew neck jumper.
Very bold in colour, it represents an overall image of HCFG colour palette in action.
The collection launches online on 21st September and is available in 12 stores. Prices start from £25.
What university did you attend and what course did you study?
I studied Fashion Design with Business Studies BA (Hons) at the University of Brighton. Graduating in 2018, this was a 4 year degree with an additional year placement within the industry. Within this year I worked for some amazing companies, spending 2 months in New York on the concept team ay Gap, 6 months in London at the design studio of E.Tautz and 3 months working at Craig Green on the SS18 show.
What was the concept of your graduate project that won the award at GFW?
The concept behind my graduate collection was to draw attention to the relaxed approach of soft tailoring. Inspired by my Suffolk roots I drew from rural crafts such as basket making and historical images of field and agricultural workers. I developed a range of handcrafted fabric manipulations and embroideries to evoke the sense of craft and slowness and created contemporary tailored pieces for layering. My aspiration was to creatively re-work menswear wardrobe staples and explore this in unusual fabrications using a very organic, tonal colour palette of mustards and greys.
What is your role at Debenhams?
This year at Debenhams I have been working on the Menswear Design team as a Design Assistant. This has been across two teams, working alongside the designers on Racing Green and the designer brand, Jasper Conran. I have worked on two seasons this year which an enabled me to really see the full development from trend, design work into sampling and final production. Alongside this role I have also had the opportunity to design my own capsule range in collaboration with Debenhams as a part of winning the Debenhams Menswear Award at GFW in 2018.
Tell us about your experience and what you have learnt at Debenhams?
I’ve gained an invaluable insight into the design process of a department store. I’ve been taught all the components that are needed to develop a line within a company; as well as furthering my skills in working with suppliers and creating thorough design packs. Most importantly, I have learnt to be confident in my ideas, making sure I present this with conviction. Time is extremely precious within this industry, however it is really important to always drive towards that more conscious way of designing.
What was it like t0 design your own collection and see it go into production?
This year designing my own collection has honestly been such an amazing and fulfilling experience. Especially, these last few weeks, seeing the collection in stores and online, has been very surreal. I was given the freedom to design something that has been true to me as a designer. Although there has been numerous challenges, the knowledge I have gained from working on this collection has be phenomenal. It’s also been amazing to work with different teams within the business, from accessories to marketing, who have helped me create this final capsule product. I’ve been able to be a part of the complete journey from initial sketches to receiving a physical item of clothing that has my name in the back label, to setting it up in store – that’s been the most rewarding!
Tell us about your Debenhams capsule Collections and the inspiration behind them?
HCFG is a is a 12-look wardrobe building range of relaxed casual styles and affordable luxury. It has a natural and organic feel, using relaxed and oversized silhouettes with a strong tonal colour story. The range focusses on the contemporary man, who wants to accomplish that classic look with casual layering but be more adventurous with his statement outerwear pieces. I think this collection offers something for a more confident man, who likes that classic design but with an edge. It definitely offers a more relaxed, oversized silhouette that is quite new to Debenhams. I’ve also brought in a naturally dyed T-shirt, introducing that naturally dyed T-shirts can still be contemporary and cool, and it’s a possibility to develop foundation products which use better production methods. I do believe there is a drive for this now in the market.
I really wanted this collection to be a follow-on project from my graduate collection. that I designed at the University of Brighton, and to see how I could adopt that towards a commercial market. I looked a lot at rural cultures and handcrafts based in Suffolk; developing a natural, organic colour palette with softer silhouettes and hints of 80s Japanese influences.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
In 5 years time I would love to of established a strong unique brand that is recognisable within the industry. The next few years will just be developing myself as a designer and absorbing all the skills possible to further that whether that is in the UK, abroad or perhaps under my own name. It is a really exciting time for my career and I am really looking forward to seeing where this takes me.
Hannah winning her award at GFW 18.