Anne Valérie Hash sent out a singularly focused collection last season, one comprised entirely of jumpsuits. This time out, things were a bit more diffuse. But only a bit—the tone here was very consistent, and much of a piece with that jumpsuit collection for Fall. In essence, Hash continued to play around with the codes of formality and informality, cutting clothes in a way that came across as shrugged on and easy, but then elaborating them with, say, various kinds of delicate lace. Hash's T-shirt dress was a case in point, the kind of thing a girl could wear nonchalantly, with sneakers, except perhaps for the fact that the back was all sheer lace. On the other hand, Hash's standout jacket played the opposite trick, deformalizing the garment by tying it off to one side. The designer has a real knack for jumbling dressed-up/dressed-down categories, and for introducing unexpected elements, as in a pair of asymmetric, mannish trousers. This season, emphasizing the casual, it was very easy to overlook the fact that these clothes were irreducibly soigné.
