Meet | Juliette Hogan
Known for her beautiful prints that effortlessly capture the warmer months, Juliette Hogan's summer '22 collection is all about brighter, longer days filled with connection and love after the tougher times of late. We caught up with Juliette over lunch at Onslow in late September and chatted with her about business, sustainability and how the summer is shaping up for her and her wonderful team.
Warmer days are here! Tell us about your joys of Spring Juliette - what are you enjoying most about our longer, warmer days?
I love the crisp morning's spring brings around. It is also so nice to head home after work and still have some good hours of light, and time to go for a walk and play with my girls. I really enjoy dressing for spring as well. It is such a good time to play with different fabric combinations and layering pieces.
What's on your mind when designing your spring collections? Who are you designing for and where is she wearing what?
For this spring/summer collection, Alice and I were designing during last year’s winter lockdown. We were dreaming about brighter, longer days, having events to attend and no more lockdown. I think you can see this with all the bright colour and dresses we have in the collection. When designing, a lot of the time I think about if I will wear these pieces. Over the years my designs have evolved as I have. When I was pregnant, I made so many shirt dresses with buttons up the front for breastfeeding, and for this collection, I was ready for easy, relaxed, spring/summer looks.
Prints are always such a key feature of your collections - how have they come together for this collection?
We start with our prints very early on in the design process. Again, with this dream of summer events and holidays, our prints in this collection were inspired by golden sunsets, fields of flowers, and vibrant, joyful colour. We weren’t afraid to have bold, fun prints and I love how we have added monochromatic pieces in tones from the different prints, that can be paired easily with each other. My favourite print in the collection has to be the Songbird print. I just love how this design seems more subdued compared to the others, but when looking at it up close there are so many colours in there that can be tied back with almost everything in the collection.
...our prints in this collection were inspired by golden sunsets, fields of flowers, and vibrant, joyful colour.
Do you have any favourite pieces? How are you styling them?
Currently on high rotation in my wardrobe is the Sara Dress, the Joy Shirt in white, the Forever Tunic in Songbird, the Nomi Skirt in Vision Floral and the upcoming Billie Dress in Crisp Poplin, green. I love these pieces and am currently layering them with JHL, my Marvin Cardi and a trench, while the weather is still on the cooler side.
As your business evolves, what role does sustainability play? What does being environmentally aware mean to you and the Juliette Hogan brand?
We created our Sustainability Strategy in the hope of tackling some of the responsibilities that our industry and business face and as a way to ensure economic, environmental and social needs continue to be at the forefront of all our decision-making. There is still so much for us to learn in this space, but I am excited about the steps we are taking and for future plans to come to fruition.
You recently launched JHLounge to widespread acclaim. What was your inspiration behind this direction?
Tell us about your favourite: Restaurant / Weekend Destination / Summer Musician / Cocktail / Book / Recipe
Restaurant - Pici / Ada
Weekend Destination - Woolley's Bay, Northland
Summer Musician - Crowded House
Cocktail - French 75
Book - Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly + Auē by Becky Manawatu
Recipe - Tui’s seed crackers, anything from Ottolenghi,