"You know how you look when you're in love, that rosy glow?" Anne Valérie Hash said backstage. "That's how I wanted the clothes to look." Over the seasons, this Paris designer has experimented with structure and flou; the one constant has been a subtle yet powerful sense of color. Her palette for Spring was particularly attractive: Pale makeup hues mingled alongside silvery grays, with hits here and there of spicy saffron. The fact that Hash used drapey fabrics like georgette, mousseline, washed leather, and cotton jersey contributed to the collection's fresh, feminine, and eminently wearable look.
For all the softness and light, though, the focus was on tailoring: Jackets came cropped with the sleeves pushed up past the elbows and the seams exposed and raw. Tapering pants with rolled cuffs had either crossover or doubled waistbands. The latter looked a bit tricky, but for the most part Hash avoided gratuitous experimentation and stuck with pieces that really worked, like a T-shirt with a mille-feuille of ruffles arcing across its front (paired with relaxed, easy pants) or a black silk shift with an askew V-neck and asymmetrical hem. This just might've been the designer's best show yet.
