By Cheryl Tay
One of only 2 female Grand Couturieres on the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture who also showcased the best of her current/retrospective collection during Women's Fashion Week 2011 Singapore from 26 to 30 October 2011.
SENATUS looks at designer who never had an easy start and has to work and fight hard for her successes.
Anne Valérie Hash was once so poor she could not even afford pasta; her first collection was financed with a modest 8,000 euros – the minimum proof of funds required by French law to start a company – in 2001.
Not that anyone would be able to tell, though.
Working with this shoestring budget, Hash managed to produce six collections, three runway shows, and also to have exhibitions combining fashion and art in Ace Gallery in New York and the French Cultural Institute of Milan by 2004.
She was not an instant hit – not a single piece was sold from her debut collection. Undeterred, Hash has since won acclaim for her ingenious deconstructed pieces, wowing fashion editors with fluid designs reworked from men’s clothes.
A look inside the current atelier of Anne Valerie Hash
Now the Anne Valérie Hash collections are sold at more than 120 exclusive points-of-sale around the world. While deconstruction is by no means a novel idea in fashion, Hash’s unique sense of proportion and her flawless cutting technique set her apart. From her humble beginnings, she rose to launching her first couture collection in 2007 for Fall/Winter 2009, called “Elements”.
She was bestowed the official label of Haute Couture in January of 2008 after being sponsored by the senior Couture house, Dior.
In 2009, she was honoured with the insignia of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by French Minister of Culture and Communications. It is a mark of prestige awarded only to artists and writers who have made significant contributions to the arts.
The engine room of Anne Valerie Hash's atelier - the production backroom for the skilled artisans
What is the unmistakable appeal of Hash’s designs that have attracted celebrity clients like Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, and Gyneth Paltrow, to name a few? Maybe it’s the impeccable cut of her clothes, a skill honed while doing stints at Christian Lacroix, Nina Ricci, Chloe and Chanel. Or maybe it’s her source of inspiration: her muse is a young girl named Lou Lisa Lesage, who was ten years old at the time they first met.
When asked why she uses a child as her muse, Hash explains, "Because when you take adult-sized garments you can reduce them and play with the proportions easily, which you can't on a grown-up."
Anne Valérie Hash has an ambitious streak reminiscent of Coco Chanel, whose biography she has been re-reading every second year since she was eighteen. In March 2008, she launched ANNE VALÉRIE HASH MADEMOISELLE, a line of clothing for girls aged four to fourteen. AVHASH by Anne Valérie Hash, a second ready-to-wear line built upon the signature brand (but with a more affordable price tag) was launched in July 2010.
A Chronology
1995 Graduated from the school of Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
2003 Awarded with the ANDAM prize.
2008 Awarded with the official Haute Couture label.
2009 Honoured with the insignia of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by French Minister of Culture and Communications.
The House of Anne Valérie Hash
Jul 2001 Presentation of the first ready to wear collection during Paris fashion week.
Sep 2003 Photo exhibition in New York with Michelangelo Di Baptista.
Feb 2004 Exhibition: «Fashination–Art & Fashion» at Stockholm’s Modern Museum.
May 2005 «Spectres –fashion in motion» show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Jul 2007 Launch of the first Haute Couture collection in Paris.
Jan 2008 The house of Anne Valérie Hash is awarded with the Official Label of Haute Couture.
Mar 2008 Launch of the children line Anne Valérie Hash Mademoiselle.
Jul 2010 Launch of the second line AVHASH By Anne Valérie Hash built upon the original DNA of the brand with a gentler price point.
