Fashion Meet The Makers

How Georgiana Huddart Co-Founded Hunza G

It was a mixture of passion and determination that led the creative director to relaunch the coveted crinkle swimwear brand. How did she do it? Liberty finds out…

By: Maddi John

Meet The Makers

How Georgiana Huddart Co-Founded Hunza G

It was a mixture of passion and determination that led the creative director to relaunch the coveted crinkle swimwear brand. How did she do it? Liberty finds out…

By: Maddi John

Champions of the creative spirit, we've always spotlighted those who go above and beyond to deliver the unexpected – and now we’d like to help push them forward. Join us as we share the stories of the most courageous changemakers, experimental artisans and progressive innovators that make the Liberty community so extraordinary.

As the brand behind the original, iconic crinkle texture swimsuit, Hunza G changed the swimwear game. When they launched their signature, 1980s inspired crinkle swimsuits, they instantly became a social-media sensation, and their flattering fits and high quality creations rapidly garnered a cult following within the fashion scene and beyond. The woman behind it all? Georgiana Huddart.

Before it was Hunza G, the swimwear brand originally began life in 1984, under the direction of Peter Meadows who created its unique, crinkle-stretch fabrication as, simply, Hunza. Fast forward to the 2010s, and Georgiana Huddart made it her mission to revive the brand for the modern-day woman, having acquired a fixation on the original stretch fabric while studying Art History at university. When studying, she created samples of swimsuits and dresses with the signature fabric, a precursor to the designs of today. In something of a fashion fairytale, a chance encounter led to a meeting between Huddart and Meadows and Hunza G was born, with the goal of creating an inclusive and diverse swimwear line.

As Hunza G’s pop-up launches on the Second Floor at Liberty, we sat down with the creative director and co-founder to talk nostalgia, inclusivity and creating clothing for women, by women…

THE MAKING OF HUNZA G

How did you first get into fashion and later become Hunza G’s creative director?

I interned at Vogue and then worked for a menswear designer straight out of university. My mum had been Grace Coddington’s first assistant back in the ‘80s so I feel like I always had an idea that I wanted to do something creative, I just wasn’t sure if it would be in art or fashion. I came up with the idea of reviving the crinkle when I was about 22 but I didn’t manage to make it happen until I was 27… And when I pitched the idea to Peter (the original owner of Hunza) we basically relaunched a week or so later.

How would you describe Hunza G in an elevator pitch?

We are famous for the one-size-fit crinkle fabric products that make women feel amazing, strong, and confident in swimwear – when they could be feeling quite vulnerable. We were one of the first inclusive and diverse swim brands. When we launched in 2015 the category was very one-dimensional in terms of its aesthetic and energy.

When are you at your most creative and where do you get your best ideas from?

I can't actually answer that as I don’t find that there is a formula. Sometimes it can happen when I am at my most stressed or tired, and sometimes it happens when I am at my calmest and most clear-headed. I don't think being made to make decisions under enormous time pressure is most conducive to good ideas, but also sometimes time is of the essence!

What’s your biggest distraction?

Online shopping, Instagram and TV – all the naughty things!

What advice would you give someone looking to start their own brand?

Try and work out how to serve a purpose and do it well. Is there a gap in the market for it? It doesn’t always need to be really overthought – if you can imagine yourself as the consumer, it makes it easier to make good decisions. Trying to be super objective about what makes you actually press ‘go’ when buying a product or what engages you aesthetically. There is a lot of noise out there!

Hunza G Spring Summer 2024 Collection

What are your three best tips for creativity?

I think taking care of oneself is underrated – so, like boring things really: sleep, exercise and good music.

‘Modern nostalgia’ is a theme that’s at the heart of Hunza G. Why do you look to the past for inspiration and how do you make references to the past feel fresh and new?

Because I love nostalgia. When I am looking at Hunza we have this amazing heritage but then we have moved the products on so that they are more contemporary and feel current. I love archive imagery and looking back to the days when everything was more analog, but we also live in a modern world, so it has to make sense in both places: heritage Hunza and modern Hunza.

The one-size-fits-all mantra is at the heart of Hunza G. How important is inclusivity to your brand?

At Hunza we focus on trying to serve a range of body shapes and sizes, it's not a sole size focus as that’s reductive. I am 6ft3 so I need a different product or shape to a shorter woman, or a tall woman with a larger bust, or a curvier woman who is of average height but wants more coverage on the leg… etc.