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.
