In the Bag: Sebastian Hunt

Words by Georgie Wright
Photographs supplied

Sebastian Hunt with his Tom Tote in Dark Canvas

Sebastian Hunt is the director and co-founder of Entire Studios, a label that’s graced the backs of everyone from Lil Nas X to Dua Lipa to almost all of the Kardashian family (Stormi Webster custom fit included). Sebastian started Entire at the end of 2020 with long-term best friend and business partner Dylan Richards, who he met during the heady glory days of Tumblr. Through hard graft—and an immaculate eye for luxury streetwear—the pair quickly ascended to the upper echelons of celebrity styling, working with the likes of Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Tyga, Travis Scott and Lil Yachty. And, of course, Yu Mei—a longstanding friend of the brand, Sebastian’s directed our past two digital runways, and frequently attends “CEO” meetings with Jessie, which generally consist of Seb sending Jessie sassy DMs and Jessie ignoring him.

Read on for Sebastian’s dos and don’t of business, why he thinks ankle socks should be outlawed, and what you should feed your dog instead of kibble.

CAREER

I say I'm a retired stylist now, thank god. I far prefer having my own business. Dylan covers the design side of things at Entire, whereas I like learning how to make shit happen, and what it means to run a business. The hardest part is working with numbers, because it’s something I literally suck at. But we have an amazing finance director, shout out Ruth, who manages every single penny—I don’t even know how to log into the Entire bank account. If you want to run a business and you can’t manage money, you’re going to have to get someone to do it for you.

When it comes to collaborating with people, especially in business, you have to know what you’re good at and stick to it. With a lot of creative duos, people let their ego get in the way. They want to do certain things because it's cool or trendy, but it might not actually be right for them, and that’s just the harsh reality. For example, in our situation Dylan is better at the design stuff, and does all the ‘fun’ creative things like designing the clothes and planning the shoots. And I let him do that, because I’m better at operations, and always have been. Even on styling jobs back in the day, I’d be the one figuring out how to navigate a foreign country, and where to find the best artisanal Canelle bakery. I also do all the art direction—stuff like how the brand looks on Instagram, because obviously I am an Instagram queen.

I feel like a business doesn't work out if you're insecure, or you doubt your actions. It just puts you in a bad mindset. You also have to be able to stand up for yourself. I’m a Taurus and we’re very assertive, so I’m really quick to call out anyone who behaves out of line towards me or Dylan. I really like that about myself, because I’ve always stood up to anyone that tries to treat us badly. And I genuinely think that if you can't stand up for yourself then you cannot run a business.

It’s hard work running Entire, but it’s also rewarding. The best part is the end result—seeing our collections selling out, or having famous people wearing them all the time. You’ve gotta go through the rain to get to the rainbow. There's a quote for you.

DESIGN

The whole time Dylan and I have worked together, we've followed a similar silhouette and vibe. We've been really consistent with it, and always like everything to be high end European, with exaggerated silhouettes and more sporty, utilitarian fabrics. That’s basically how the Entire aesthetic came about. It’s just a natural extension of what we’ve always done. We don’t really like referencing vintage brands; we're more interested in finding old, cool sportswear. Then we'll amplify the silhouette, or change the fabric—just little details that make it more refined. Because when you actually break it down, it's not over-designed. It's exaggerated, but it's still just a puffer jacket.

As I've gotten older, I've learned to be less judgmental about other people's style, and how they choose to express themselves. But I will always hate ankle socks. You simply have no excuse to wear them, unless you're like, a ballet dancer or whatever. Also, badly tailored pants irritate me, and badly fitted sweatpants. It's not my decision how a sweat pant should be, but if I see a cropped sweat pant or a sweat pant that's too skinny, I'm like—*winces*.

I don't feel any pressure to look 'good', because I don't feel like I have anything to prove. It's my job, it isn't necessarily who I am. I like the idea of stepping out of my bossy car in a shitty little outfit. Most of the time I wear sweatpants, which doesn't necessarily resemble the luxurious high profile look of what you think a 'fashion designer' is going to look like. But I enjoy dressing down, and being comfy. At the end of the day, I just want to be buried in an Entire sweatsuit and my Celine boots. And a beanie.

LIFE

I'm a homebody for the most part, and I could stay home seven days a week. But I need to go out for dinner and wine at least two or three times a week or I'll die. I’m a really good cook, but I want to keep getting better. Because cooking’s hot. If I dated a guy who couldn’t cook—no bueno. My thing is recreating restaurant meals at home. I’ve got a great palette, so I pick up all the different elements in the meal, and then can generally make a pretty good version at home. One thing I’m not super into is the whole raw food movement. I’ll eat it, but I don’t like chopping, so I don’t cook anything that requires a lot of chopping.

I got my dog Esmerelda—who obviously has her own Instagram—in the middle of COVID, when I didn't know what was happening or when I was going to go overseas again. It was a very impulsive decision that I only regret approximately 8% of the time. She's great, but she's peak chaotic vibes. She also follows a strict organic diet, and is incredibly high maintenance, as is her right. Esmerelda mostly eats venison and salmon, supplemented with things like bone broth, probiotic yogurt, hemp seeds, turmeric and blueberries. Her favourite treats are green beans, broccoli and something gross and freeze dried like liver. When I go out, I obviously like to get her a couple of pieces of sashimi, and she loves the octopus at Andiamo. She always orders that. When I first got her, they gave me kibble to feed her, and I was interested to see what it was made of. And there’s a bunch of shit that you can’t really identify. Fine, it’s 50% chicken, but what's the rest? Like, flour? So I decided I'd rather go full organic. As god intended a dog to be. And there’s so many health benefits—she doesn't get yucky eyes, her breath smells amazing, and her poo is really good. Her energy levels are really high, and I think the diet is to blame. Everyone talks about how her coat's so shiny, but then she does use Aesop dog shampoo. She's also got a dog perfume, which she hates, but then I would hate to have a stinky dog. Unfortunately she does fart sometimes though. When the diet’s a little too organic.

UTILITY

I'm not the most organised. I drop the ball sometimes, but that doesn't mean it doesn't get picked up again. I'm always on time though. Always. I refuse to be late to anything, because I associate lateness with laziness. So I'm organised in that sense. But in my general life, no. I'll leave things undone to make it to dinner on time.

I always carry Dr. Bronner's lavender hand sanitizer in my bag, but my hands get really dry when I use too much, so I also need my Chanel La Crème Main lotion. Then I’ll have my perfume, Carner Volcano, Byredo Lip Balm, my Céline cardholder from Phoebe Philo's last collection (which won out over my Yu Mei one), Rick Owens sunglasses and stacks of cash. I always carry my Margiela hospital slippers in my bag because my boots are heavy and uncomfortable, and it’s more about serving a look from the car to the door, so I can switch them out easily. To be honest, the Yu Mei Tom Tote is my first everyday bag, so I'm just learning how to have it and what to put it in. The usual things, I guess? Laptop, chargers, phone. But I don't put my water bottle in there, because I'm always scared it's going to pop open.

RECOMMENDATIONS

My number one film recommendation is Hairspray. It’s my favourite, I couldn't tell you how many times I've watched it. I feel like it touches on a lot of social topics, from body positivity to racism to police brutality, to how these issues are portrayed in the media. But then it's also a very happy movie. I don't normally really like musicals, but I just love Hairspray. And oh my god, the soundtrack. Incredible.

Micro-needling is the best—I can't live without getting it every one to two months. It takes a couple of sessions to notice results full time, but it works. Shout out to my facialist, Bare Beauty Studios in Auckland. I've also stuck to the complete same routine for the past two years, and only use one brand, Medik8. Their moisturiser and their Vitamin C is stunning. Before that I was literally that person that would go into Mecca and buy everything, which I don't think is good for your skin. I feel like it takes at least six months for your skin to really adapt to a new skincare routine.

If you have a dog, I highly recommend feeding it a 100% organic diet. Please see Esmeralda’s attached sample menu.

ESMERALDA'S MEAL PLAN

Raw Venison and Salmon (with tripe) with a small teaspoon of probiotic greek yogurt.

Toppings: Pumpkin Seeds, Coconut Shavings, Kelp, Hemp Powder, Chia Seeds, Turmeric, Fennel Powder, Ginger, Probiotic Powders, Pinch of Cayenne.

Weekly: Chicken Bone Broth

Treats: Green Beans, Freeze Dried Salmon (with skin), Freeze Dried liver, broccoli, and cheese when we are feeling naughty.

Esmeralda definitely has cheat days. I don't want to rid her completely of anything kind of bad, so she always gets a cheeky chippy (or ten).

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