Douglas Hannant (Q2956)
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Douglas Hannant is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Douglas Hannant |
Douglas Hannant is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
This Resort season, Douglas Hannant was not in the mood to spout off a few far-fetched references. His honesty was refreshing. Even more so than usual, the collection was straight-up about his customer. Specifically, her desire to wear soft, unstructured gowns and separates. "They don't want anything that's too complicated," he said at his showroom. Hannant described the look as "bohemian art collector," inspired by a few of his private clients who squarely fit the description. A single-seam silk dress in a swirled-paint print glided over the body, while the shoulders on a textured navy jacket were rounded for a bit of softness. The edges of a backless halter-neck gown in coral guipure lace were left undone to create a sort of fringe, and a strapless polka-dot tunic fluttered over the hips of a pair of matching wide-leg trousers.Yet while the designer made an obvious point of avoiding too much structure, each piece was still very sleek. For instance, a psychedelic-print caftan with kimono sleeves could have been loose and frumpy, but instead it was cut close to the body and sported a thigh-high slit. Hannant's customers might want easy items, but they've got to be sexy, too.
24 June 2014
"Celestial" was Douglas Hannant's touch point for a cool-colored Fall 2014 collection. Maybe because starry skies inspired the designer, today's presentation seemed heavily bent toward eveningwear; an excess of shimmer made even button-up blouses look ready for nightlife. It's too bad, because a couple of quieter pieces (which may have been designed with daytime in mind) were overtaken by all the sparkle. A fitted black sweater dress with a single thick cable down its center was awkwardly hidden under a cropped metallic jacket that threw off its proportions. A pair of luxe leather trousers with subtle slouch also showed promise, whether or not they will resonate with Hannant's uptown clientele.But if those clients are shopping for gala season come fall, they should have plenty of dresses to choose from. The standout was a spaghetti-strap gown of bias-cut graphite woven raffia. On the hanger before the show it looked almost like metallic snakeskin, but Hannant said the surface appearance would look like liquid on the model. Perhaps better, it appeared more substantial, almost like leather. In spite of its slip-style silhouette, this dress had a bit of body, which should make it easier to wear. It was certainly more wearable than a trumpet-skirt gown of metallic tweed that cinched unforgivingly at a model's knees, restraining her movement. That dramatic, voluminous strapless silhouette also showed up in a gown of grape-colored silk faille that Hannant had hand-painted. The designer said he used a bottle to keep the process "very controlled," and while interesting, it still looked very splatter-painted and, combined with the dress' color and silhouette, very 1980s. That era of excess was reflected in many of these layers of metallic sequins, lace, leather, and fur. This collection didn't feel especially current, but piece by piece, Hannant's customers may still have some fun with it.
11 February 2014
Douglas Hannant traveled to Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands, last year and was amazed by the landscape. "The dunes are like nothing I've ever seen," he said backstage before his show, explaining how the lack of vegetation allows the wind to create beautiful patterns in the sand. His Spring palette was filled with island colors—sunset pinks, sand golds, sea blues—and the mercurial nature of the dunes was reflected by the changing quality of fabrics as they shifted and moved beneath sheer layers of tulle, lace, and chiffon. There was a quietness to the clothes and a lean line throughout: no voluminous gala gowns or over-embellished cocktail frocks. One of the prettiest dresses came out second. In ivory wool crepe, it draped nicely across the model's frame and revealed a skinny leather racer-back that extended to the hips. A few ruched tulle dresses felt out of place—too overtly clingy and curvy in a collection that otherwise hinted at the body beneath. There was plenty to like here, if nothing to go crazy over, but Hannant's sophisticated faithful won't be stranded come spring.
10 September 2013
"I've never done so much black and white for Resort," said Douglas Hannant at a preview of his new lineup in his Plaza Hotel boutique. The collection—like several others we saw this season—was subtly inspired by Deauville in the twenties and thirties. The designer described Coco Chanel's vacation destination of choice as "the Palm Beach of France" (a fitting comparison, considering Hannant's sizable Florida-based clientele). He offered casual yet polished daywear pieces, including easy striped shifts and silk palazzo pants featuring a graphic floral print—all executed in a classic, contrasting palette of ebony, ivory, and ecru. There were a few memorable pops of color on a flame-hued slinky viscose maxi dress that could easily transition from poolside to a party with the addition of heels, as well as on a vibrant lacquered lace number with a keyhole neckline and contrasting, engineered seams. Hannant pointed out that while transitional wear-now items are important for this delivery, his customer also has plenty of black-tie events during the holidays. Two strapless gowns with built-in bustier details (one in cobalt and the other in black and white with a train in back) were standouts among his formalwear.
27 June 2013
Douglas Hannant claimed his Fall collection was "stripped of all theatrics" in favor of highlighting the craftsmanship behind the clothes. Not quite. With four-time Grammy winner Renée Fleming looking on approvingly from the front row, Hannant presented a range of genteel dresses with a few operatic flourishes mixed in.Sheath dresses remained the dominant silhouette. Updated for the season with ruffled leather peplums, gathered necklines, and autumnal fabrics—a croclike emerald Lurex, for example—they looked as decorous as the designer's clients demand. The less structured wool crepe dresses featured subtle shredded georgette at the seams, drawing attention to what Hannant termed the "soft geometry" of his cuts.Sometimes all the textures got a little fussy, as in one dress that incorporated a peacock blue slip, polka-dotted lace portrait collar, spaghetti straps, thigh slit,andsatin waist sash. In fact, that polka-dotted lace was (air quotes) "whimsical" to the point of distracting on every piece in which it featured. But the quality of the materials and cuts can't be questioned. A turquoise gown with alternating panels of matte and shiny silk crepe, in particular, made a diva-worthy statement.
12 February 2013
"This is a floral collection," Douglas Hannant said backstage before today's show at the New-York Historical Society. "It's organic, but not in that old granola way." Granola? Here? Certainly not. As Hannant described her, this season's woman was eccentric but chic: "She wears what she likes, but she has style." Eccentricity meant we got a little bit of everything. On one hand, a swingy jersey dress in a pretty green and white bamboo print was low-key and uncomplicated. A few organza blouses with stand-up ruffled collars and cuffs, on the other, looked stiff and stuffy. Hannant may have been going for whimsy, but the result was a touch comical. A better eccentricity came through in the models' ostrich handbags, hand-painted with tropical flowers by Hannant himself. They looked like a social doyenne's charming art project. For special occasions, a pale blue and white beaded gown with a sheer Chantilly lace skirt garnered applause; it had just the right amount of sparkle and a flattering, body-skimming cut. It's clear that Hannant had fun with this collection, and while the results were mixed, there are casual and formal pieces here with a lighthearted spirit sure to appeal to the designer's clients.
11 September 2012
Last year, Douglas Hannant staged a runway show on the flight deck of theIntrepidto present his nautical-themed Resort '12 collection. Instead of doing another high-production event, the designer kept the focus on the clothing this time around. Hannant studied to be a fine artist before he entered fashion, and he used his own Monet-inspired watercolor paintings as the starting point for the new lineup. They appeared as digital prints and informed the mostly blue and green color palette. Resort season is no longer just for jet-setters who need caftans and bathing suits to fill St. Bart's-bound vacation trunks, but Hannant's collection hews closer to that traditional notion of cruise than those of other labels. His clients need outfits for charity luncheons, galas, and drink dates at the yacht club. For more formal events, there was an apron-tie taffeta ball skirt that parted down the center to reveal a sequined tank gown underneath, and a pair of shantung silk cargo pants that will definitely stand out in a crowd of strapless cocktail frocks.
18 June 2012
Douglas Hannant titled his Fall collection Gentry and took as his muse Wallis Simpson, the couture-loving divorcée who married way, way up. Was Hannant having a Madonna moment, then? No, the designer said backstage before his show. He only learned about the filmW.E.after he had started designing his collection, though he was pleased to find his girl was in the zeitgeist.A leaf-strewn runway filled in for the grounds of an English manor. For a well-appointed weekend in the country there was plenty of plaid, tweed, and houndstooth; and, for horse lovers, a pair of saucy black leather jodhpurs. Sherlock Holmes had been invited, too, and his influence could be seen in a fitted, salt-and-pepper jacket that fluttered into a cape.A model in one of Eric Javits' darling hats and a matching black-and-white-check bias-cut sheath could have been his chic sidekick (sorry, Watson). Hannant skipped the volume for evening, opting instead for a languid silhouette. A black, panne velvet mermaid gown with a beaded décolleté fit the bill, but the best dress was much less glamorous: A clingy jersey sheath color-blocked in purple, emerald, and tan, which felt unexpected and new. It may not have been in Wallis' repertoire, but it evoked the here and now.
14 February 2012
Echoes of Shanghai in the thirties, which was this season's inspiration for Douglas Hannant, were subtle. "There will be no chinoiserie," the designer promised before the show. The tone was set by the styling and the venue, a room at the Plaza fashioned to look a bit like a Chinese speakeasy. The glamorous world Hannant envisioned should be accessible to his loyal clientele, and perhaps to some new customers, as well, when he opens a store in Shanghai later this year. How did it play out in the clothes? Raffia, a stand-in for bamboo, was an organic, more textural fabric than you usually see from Hannant. A black and tan off-the-shoulder dress in the material hewed close to the body and draped across the hip; it might have felt fussy in another finish, but here it was fresh and crisp. A few ballooning sleeves and one entire look in Lurex (featuring an ill-advised lavender camo print) could have been excised, but overall the sure-footed, sophisticated moments won out.
13 September 2011
Douglas Hannant must've been feeling intrepid, staging his Resort show on the flight deck of theIntrepidon a 90-plus-degree afternoon. Scorching heat aside, the novelty factor of the runway setting was a definite bonus that also enhanced the clothes. If the first couple of bateau stripe looks didn't tip you off to the nautical theme going on, then accessories like sailor hats and rope necklaces certainly drove the designer's point home. There was an assortment of goodies for Hannant's ritzy patron here, with daywear pieces being the most notable. You could picture a part-time Palm Beach resident lounging poolside in an oversize, cable-knit poncho. The sharp red tweed pencil skirt with a matching cape jacket would transition from the office to cocktail hour seamlessly, and nobody's going to take issue with a crisp, tweed-trimmed trench cut from silk gazar. Evening gowns—like the finale number with over-the-top ostrich feathers embroidered on a poufy ball gown—could have benefited from the more straightforward approach Hannant took to sportswear.
6 June 2011
Douglas Hannant gave his Fall show a Jazz Age spin—cloche hats by Eric Javits on the models, Nina Simone on the soundtrack—but, he said backstage before his show at the Plaza, "There's very little of the thirties in the clothes. If you're going with a theme, you should have a light hand." We couldn't agree more. And what does Hannant need with themes, anyway? His clients are after gowns for museum parties and smart skirtsuits to wear to fashion shows. There were plenty of both.A short, white and black checked tweed jacket trimmed in fox accentuated the waist; paired with a black crepe skirt it was very classic, a little cool. Cooler still? A pair of leather-to-the-thigh, jersey-to-the-hip stirrup pants. They might not fly at brunch, but they'd look very chic après ski. The solid, jewel-toned satin dresses at the end of the show—in peacock and sapphire—were pretty but uninspiring. Better was the last look, a black strapless gown whose considerable skirt was embroidered with hundreds of white-bordered organza petals. It received a fair share of front-row "oohs" and "aahs."
15 February 2011
"It's not cerebral at all," Douglas Hannant said of his latest round of day and evening dresses for the Palm Beach set. "The theme this season is candy." From the gift bags to the soundtrack to the actual clothes on the catwalk, the Edwardian Room at the Plaza was awash in sweet froth, with a palette the designer likened to "a bag of jelly beans dumped on a white tablecloth."Propelled outward by crinolines, some of the short skirts looked like cupcakes. The multicolored buttons running down the front of an ivory shift with organza cap sleeves, from a distance, could have been Smarties. There were rainbow sequins on that one, too, so maybe the buttons were overkill—but if you're trying to liven up lunch conversation at the club, why not go all the way?Black mesh layered over Chantilly lace looked downright edgy surrounded by all the pink. One of the closing gowns was also black. Its bodice gleamed with sequins caught in net, and the skirt was so voluminous it couldn't whoosh down the runway without an assist—the model had to lift it up before she had clearance. The front row (CeCe Cord, Jamee Gregory, et al.) broke out in applause.
14 September 2010
Douglas Hannant held his Resort runway show at the Plaza (site of the designer's boutique), and he kept the season's references to something the tanned, air-kissing crowd in attendance could easily digest: Palm Springs in its mid-century heyday. A thin white leather peacoat paired with a black flared trouser and a ruched turquoise jersey cocktail dress were among the sleek, clean designs on offer. Hannant also looked at abstract expressionist works and turned out a pair of sequined gowns—one in a multicolor design that resembled splatter paint, another that had been hand-painted in bold splashes of primary color. Those might have been too much for certain guests but—savvy move—should appeal to a younger clientele.
15 June 2010
Taken with the decor at the eighties-themed Halloween bash his friend Allison Sarofim held at her West Village town house last October, Douglas Hannant started to think graffiti for Fall. A few days later the deal was sealed after a visit to a Lower East Side warehouse to check out Basquiat-inspired works by the young French painter Nicolas Pol, in a show curated by Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld.Hold on a sec. The eighties at Douglas Hannant? Graffiti? Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld?Hannant knows it's a hard sell. "Based on my past work, I don't think anyone would expect me to do graffiti art," he said. "I'm bringing Alphabet City in the eighties to Park Avenue." And so he did. Panels of tag-covered plywood borrowed from Sarofim hung above the stage at the Kaye Playhouse, his Upper East Side venue. More spray-paint effects could less obviously be spied on the clothes. What looked like gold-and-green plaid on a cozy mohair cocoon coat with fox trim was actually a pattern in paint. The graffiti gambit worked, adding energy to otherwise rather conventional separates.Weaving added another graphic touch. A short, banded dress comprised of strips of velvet and tweed was uptown-sexy; a knee-length version would appeal to Hannant's regular clientele—who might want to cherry-pick the collection judiciously. Several looks were overworked with laminated wool, aWild Stylearray of colors, or peacock feathers. Still, the column dress that closed the show, covered in hand-painted sequins à la Basquiat, is sure to be in high demand for the next Museum Mile gala.
16 February 2010
With his first boutique now open at the Plaza, Douglas Hannant is not about to let a little credit crunch get him down. The quality of his collection is "staying very high," he said—and, presumably, the price point is too. "That's me," he explained, just before his presentation in the grand old hotel's Terrace Room. "That's what I do."What Hannant does is make a mean dress for a woman with room in her budget for another evening gown or two. Because he was going for a sculptural quality this season, he showed his gala looks on mannequins mounted on pedestals; it looked as if a fabric fiend had draped his way through the Met. "Venus," the 1986 hit by Bananarama playing in the background, was Hannant's bow to the goddess, and there were shades of the toga in the beautifully ruched and shirred matte jersey dresses. Not everyone can pay Park Avenue prices for their finery, but because Hannant constructs his work with such care—as a layered dress made from individually laser-printed swaths of basket-weave organza proved—he will always have admirers north of 59th Street.
13 September 2009
Gauguin motifs, Frida Kahlo, and Tony Duquette interiors were some of the reference points for Douglas Hannant's "rich bohemian" Resort collection, which included embroidered cocktail dresses and little jackets in bright but weathered hues. Inevitably, there was embellishment overload (a pair of sequined and fringed denim pants comes to mind), but a laser-printed paillette gown managed to convey the tropical theme while still maintaining the ease one expects from a resort piece. Also successful was the designer's attempt at a shapely caftan: billowy chiffon left sheer to reveal a body-skimming dress underneath.
8 June 2009
Audrey Hepburn inBreakfast at Tiffany's("the quintessential movie about New York chic," Douglas Hannant called it, backstage) was this uptown designer's rather unsurprising muse for Fall. Well-trod ground, surely, but he paid homage with a light touch. Several simple daytime dresses looked like two pieces instead of one; the camel and gray-herringbone shift that opened the show was so subtly constructed it almost fooled the eye. "If it's going to be elegant, it can't scream," Hannant pronounced, and so he kept embellishments few and well judged. A slinky jersey sheath in black had just a dusting of sparkle at the neck, while some pieces' sole moment of drama came from shots of eyelet tulle that exposed the wearer's back. These were wear-forever looks whose clean-lined charm, like Miss Golightly's, won't date anytime soon. A smart investment, in other words, despite the Fifth Avenue price tag.
18 February 2009
The large, tilted white disc of an Eric Javits hat that opened Douglas Hannant's garden party of a show wouldn't have looked out of place on Lisa Fonssagrives in a postwar fashion photograph by Irving Penn; the clothes that followed had a hint of the refinement of classic black-and-white Penn images, too.Refinement for Hannant is a relative term, however, and the society-darling designer delivered froths of lace, tulle, and shimmer aplenty. Tanks and dresses with tulle racerbacks had a youthful nonchalance to them, and the gauze capelet that closed the show—worn with the opening to the rear—gave new meaning to the term "sexyback.""I really took a gamble on this," Hannant said of his decision to showau-dehors, during a rainy week, on a sliver of rooftop at the Roosevelt Hotel. "But it was key to see the clothes in the sunlight." While a few well-lacquered guests looked at risk of melting, the gamble mostly paid off.
9 September 2008
Though he looked far eastward for inspiration, resort for Douglas Hannant is really about one place: Palm Beach—his clientele's favorite wintertime stomping ground. He struck an east/west balance with simple shifts and tunics in bright jewel tones shot with gold and silver, heavily embroidered or encrusted with beading that looked purloined from a raja's treasury. Sportier fare in crisp white cottons and natural linens tempered the richness, as did a few unembellished, floaty frocks, including one in the perfect resort shade of Caribbean azure.
19 May 2008
"Douglas always has something for everyone," said socialite CeCe Cord before Hannant's show in the velvet-curtained environs of the Hudson Theatre. Cord was joined by Becca Cason Thrash, Jamee Gregory, Debbie Bancroft, and other loyalists who braved sideways rain to attend. Chances are, they each found something to make the trip worthwhile in this point-counterpoint collection. Hannant punctuated lean, body-skimming dresses for both day and evening with doses of volume in Poiret-esque cocoon coats and poet sleeves. His exploration of tactile fabrics—nubby bouclés, feathers, glazed lace—was tempered by unembellished charmeuses and plain wools. And amid the ultra-feminine parade was a natty three-piece suit in a Prince of Wales wool—albeit a wool shot with silver thread. This designer knows his lady likes to sparkle—even when channeling Annie Hall.
31 January 2008
"Maybe I can¿t bring you to the Mediterranean, but I can bring you to the Hudson River," quipped Hannant (recently back from Caracas, Venezuela). While his devoted followers—including Ivana Trump, Valesca Guerrand-Hermès, Jamee Gregory, and Olivia Palermo—gathered under a tent on the roof of the Hudson Hotel, the designer's ship sailed almost an hour late. But the clothes, for the most part, were worth the wait.The collection tacked between silhouettes close to the body and looser ones (some of which, unfortunately, jibed into tent territory). He translated the patterns of Portuguese tiles into prints and embroidery patterns; Elizabeth Taylor inBoom!inspired a chic caftan. Paper-bag waists and balloon shapes weren¿t exactly news-making, but what Hannant called his "ghosted" pieces, with a sheer print floated over a solid version, succeeded in creating the light, wafting effect he was after—as did two short and surprisingly youthful summer-white dresses in eyelet and guipure lace.
5 September 2007
With his girls Debbie Bancroft, Valesca Guerrand-Hermès, and Lorraine Bracco perched in the front row, Douglas Hannant sent out a tenth-anniversary collection full of expensive-looking little skirt suits and endlessly bejeweled evening confections that appeal to women of a certain zip code—and upon which he's built his label. Taking the Renaissance as an inspiration, the designer inserted corsetry laces in the side seams of a fitted velvet jacket and at the back of a strapless gown. Cocktail dresses in metallic tweed came with puffed poet's sleeves or a tucked ruffle at the hem. And tiny silk Fortuny pleats cascaded from a ruff accented with a contrasting velvet bow.Backstage, the designer explained that the theme stopped at the silhouette, which was lean and modern. "It's time to be sexy again," he said. And so, for good measure, he tossed in a couple of flirty flapper dresses—one in tiers of gold chain fringe, another in black ostrich feathers—and a sequin tunic that in its brevity channeled Edie Sedgwick more than the Mona Lisa. These last had a freshness that, a decade in, suggest Hannant sees the value in wooing a younger social set.
31 January 2007