helmut.newton
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2008
- Messages
- 4,708
- Reaction score
- 5
The idea sounds very interesting, however not for Haute Couture. For Pret-a-Porter, this could have been a really genius idea. But this kind of experiment at the level of Couture, especially given the competition, is a shot-in-the-foot for Anne. Besides, these pieces are so unique, how does she intend to reproduce them? Without the pieces that were given to her, this collection becomes quite weak at the knees, don't you think?
see the slideshow ›
view full screen ›
PARIS, January 25, 2010
By Sarah Mower
As a still up-and-coming French designer struggling to build her ready-to-wear business, Anne Valérie Hash is unpretentious enough to know she hasn't the wherewithal to be a Paris couturier. "I can't do couture like Chanel or Dior. Of course not. But I do want to experiment in a different way," she said. "I had this idea to do something about personal clothing, memory, and identity, so I started writing to people I admire and asking them to send me something of theirs to transform." Her first letter went to Alber Elbaz, who, with instant generosity, sent a pair of his pajamas, and once he'd agreed, it snowballed. She ended up with Tilda Swinton's Vivienne Westwood tee, Jean Paul Gaultier's Breton shirt, Pete Doherty's frogged drummer-boy jacket, a veil from Diane Pernet, a Chanel jacket from Daphne Guinness, and a spencer belonging to Charlotte Rampling.
Hash then had to find a device to make it "look like a collection." Using her skills as a tailor and piles of matte, textured paillettes, she took elements of the original garments, copied the pieces, and reassembled them. Elbaz's pajamas became a trompe l'oeil jumpsuit; Doherty's jacket was turned into lapel linings, while the frogging was reconfigured on a T-shirt; and Pernet's veil was draped on the back of a jacket to create a chiffon hood. Some of the original fragments, like Swinton's T-shirt, became vertical panels sewn into the centers of jackets; Gaultier's stripes, meanwhile, were twisted into the neckline of a sequined all-in-one. As a small, arty event it had charm and sincerity, and it was heartening to see fellow designers and celebrities of other stripes lending a hand to help a relatively young French talent in a city where that doesn't seem to happen enough.
Last edited by a moderator:
