Weds 4th Nov: Hannah Marshall

Last evening Hannah Marshall held a special up-close-and-personal preview of her S/S 2010 collection in what is now her own shop.............for a month!  How exciting!  She has had the opportunity to take over a lease of a West End space on New Quebec Street to share with Jean Pierre Braganza.  Here she is with another visitor browsing the rails and looking quite frankly FIERCE in one of Hannah's slinky m'linkzy sexy short, short dresses...........the name to the legs being Katie Bain of the British Fashion Council.  

I could write a little report on these beautiful garments but I'm going to hand you over to Naomi Attwood as its her birthday!  (HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN!).  Naomi wrote up a report from Hannah's LFW show for me and I never uploaded it at the time as we didn't have images.  So please place yourself back to September when you read this great review and here are some backstage snaps to jolt your memory  from Morgan O'Donovan.

If you are Stateside............Hannah is bringing her collection to NYC next Thursday along with other British designers including Peter Pilotto.........who have been fitting out Michelle Obama so what better time to cross the pond .......

Hannah Marshall  Show Report by Naomi Attwood

The Old Sorting Office, re-named the Redbull Fashion Factory, is a venue with very special fashion vibes, because Vivienne Westwood held her first ever shows here back in the day. Anyway, it’s a charming and quite democratic space for a fashion show, since the catwalk is triangular, rather than straight up and down means each row gets a better view of the models and the outfits process for rather longer than usual . . . so you really get your money’s worth, whatever your status, front row or standing.

 Hannah Marshall was one of the most eagerly anticipated shows this season and the spectacle was suitably dramatic, with industrial beats blaring out as the lights went down.

 Marshall is known for her addiction to black minimal outfits sans decoration, pattern or colour which allow their strong, architectural outlines to do the talking.  This collection was no exception and the shapes that were left imprinted on the assembled press, buyers and fans were as followed:

 Rectangular, thanks to padded shoulders on loose fitting blouses (in silk) and boxy, below the hip blazers (in black leather) that had been built up to the size of shoe boxes.

 Egg timer, due to the body-con mini dresses, constructed of beautiful mesh panels inserted into leather structures. One even featured two jet-encrusted spikes, pointing down from the hip bones.

 Chaka Khan, with gorgeous flowing high-waisted pants paired with cropped bustiers creating the next erogenous zone du jour – slice of tummy betwixt the belly button and ribcage. Erin O Connor closed the show in her sparkly-topped version while Fred particularly admired the violet version of this (plus the giant-shouldered suede jacket) of the same colour.

 Triangular, which took a number of forms, such as a mini-dress with built up shoulders that were not padded, but constructed from intricate pleats on the outside of the sleeves, as well as another ingeniously constructed folded fin from the nape of the neck to the lumbar on the back of another dress and some more Elizabethan inspired shapes, with the emphasis on the hips.

 As the entire gang of models paraded to finish the show, Erin clasping the designer’s hand and leading her around, the bleak music changed to the Rolling Stones’ rousing ‘Paint It Black’. Whoever said minimalists don’t have a sense of humour? A stunning show, and plenty to think about before the coming season starts in reality.