Anne Valérie Hash is a designer who never met a yard of blush-pink peau de soie she didn't like, but this season she opted to go so streamlined she wound up using black neoprene. Her pre-fall collection was darker than usual, but not dour. Hash called it a return to her own beginnings, focused on the interplay of masculine and feminine. Thinking along classic lines, she turned out some smart-looking coats, with small, eye-catching details like doubled lapels or return collars that formed abstract hearts below the collarbone—not so boyish, after all. Jumpsuits, a best seller for her label, turned up in daytime wool or evening satin, in both long-sleeved and sleeveless versions. Hash exercised her options when it came to a clever skirt, too. Constructed with a few extra inches of material in front, it can be worn wrapped to either side, or undone for a slouchier, more generous silhouette. A tie-neck blouse in pastel lace and iridescent chiffon let the light in.
