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July 2, 2007 3:06 pm
Anne Valérie Hash showed a 14-look couture collection today, which is a first for her, as the clothes she’s presented for the past several years during the couture shows have been ready-to-wear. The new creations are all handmade in her studio, where she’s been tutoring her young staff in techniques she studied as an intern. “I was in the ateliers at Nina Ricci, Lacroix, and Dior, sewing away,” she says. “Everything is backed with organza in the old-school way, and the embroidery is by Lesage. I don’t want to do theatrics, though. I want it to be wearable, so a young woman might think, ‘Oh, I could project myself in that dress.’ ” The result is a departure from her wispy, raw-edged signature look, but with something of her taste for Victoriana still visible, particularly in the exaggerated balloon-sleeved organza blouse with which she opened the show. Another standout was a cream high-necked tunic with the bib picked out in chunky passementerie beading, shown with pants—a touch Talitha Getty but with a modernized heft to the decoration. Otherwise, this minicollection dealt out the standard couture exercises—duchesse satin suit, georgette gown, tux—in a young way, occasionally using geometric planes to emphasize the hip zone. In the end, it did call up comparisons with what Giles Deacon does in London and Rodarte in L.A., but kudos to a designer who’s willing to set the bar ever higher for herself . In October, she’ll be showing her ready-to-wear in the big arena of the Paris Spring collections, four weeks after her second baby arrives. That’s ambitious.
—Sarah Mower
Photo: Marcio Madeira
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