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She began by deconstructing men's wear and reworking the jackets and trousers into chic dresses for women. But over the last five seasons Anne Valerie Hash has evolved a softer style that balances impeccable tailoring with feminine elements such as fluid silks, embroidered tulles, lace, pleats and sexy drapes.
"Establishing myself in a male-dominated field was tough and wearing garments made from men's clothes somehow made me feelstronger. But after having two babies in two years, I am becoming more feminine in my outlook. Earlier, I used only suiting materials and could not bear to look at fabrics like muslin or chiffon. Also, I worked only with black and white to focus on the sharp cuts.
But now my latest collection is mainly silk and lace and there is not a single black outfit, though there are still some masculine touches in the garments," said Hash, during a recent trip to Dubai.
The Parisian designer was here to showcase her spring/summer 2008 collection at a fashion show at Harvey Nichols, in Mall of the Emirates.
Unique
Trained at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in Paris, Hash learnt the formal aspects of couture during her internships in fashion houses such as Chanel, Dior, Chloe, Etoile and Lacroix. She has used this knowledge to develop her own unique, edgy style and boasts celebrity clients such as Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, Uma Thurman, Nicole Richie and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Candidly admitting that at the moment she cannot fit into outfits from her own collections, Hash spoke about the evolution of her attitude to fashion design. "Earlier I had a very intellectual approach to my work. But now I am more relaxed. I have understood that clothes are like a second skin to a woman and she needs them to complement her changing moods and desires.
Hence I do not follow any specific trends and my collections include different elements to cater to the many women inside
every woman," she said.
Serious
"I have recently launched my children's wear line called Anne Valerie Hash Mademoiselle, which includes miniature versions of my early women's wear collections in fabrics like cashmere. And I am seriously thinking about a post-maternity line to match my current size and mood," she added with a smile.
Hash also designs shoes and bags and launched a haute couture line last year. "A lot of people think that couture is dying. But I believe in couture because everybody likes to dream and couture is a dream. It is the beginning of how we all dressed and people love it because it shows you what human hands can create," she said.
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