Julian Hearn isn’t easily derailed by a challenge. As founder and chief marketing officer at complete nutrition brand Huel, problem solving is the norm for him and his team. Launched in 2015, Huel – a portmanteau of “human” and “fuel” – offers a range of nutritionally balanced, convenient plant-based meals, with minimal impact on the environment. And now, with the launch of an 18-piece clothing collection named Huelwear, Hearn is applying that ethos to fashion.
“We’re about sustainability from the ground up,” Hearn says. “We started from scratch, with a clean piece of paper, saying: ‘What would this range look like if we did it properly?’” And so, Huelwear rests on a number of core values, taking in everything from what the garments are made of and how they’re made, to how you’d be able to integrate them into your wardrobe in the long term. Hearn is serious about Huelwear providing a counterpoint to the fast fashion industry’s bloat.
Central to Huelwear’s production philosophy is consideration of the materials used in each garment. Huelwear is animal-free at every point in its supply chain, and is built to last. Hearn says he knows what it’s like to watch a garment fall apart after a few wears. “They haven’t been designed particularly well; they haven’t been constructed particularly well. And sometimes the fabric choices are wrong.”
Huelwear’s range of adult and children’s performance wear, loungewear, accessories and classic denim is vegan-certified and made of single materials rather than fabric blends wherever possible – clothing is easier to recycle when it’s made from one material.
