French designer Anne Valerie Hash turns secondhand pieces into sumptuous haute couture

Hash borrows from famous wardrobes at Paris show

PARIS — A sailor’s sweater that once belonged to Jean Paul Gaultier transformed into a jumpsuit glowing with black sequins; Alber Elbaz’s striped pajama top mutated into a silk tuxedo worthy of a bohemian Parisienne.

For her spring-summer 2010 haute couture show Monday, young French designer Anne Valerie Hash asked famous figures from the world of culture and fashion to give her a piece of their clothing.

She used those secondhand garments — everything from a ballet slipper to a cloth bag to a military jacket — as the foundation of her ravishing made-to-measure collection dominated by sequin-covered pantsuits and little organza cocktail dresses.

“The idea came to me in a flash, because I had been wanting to work with other people — people who inspire me,” Hash told The Associated Press in a backstage interview.

She said she first contacted Lanvin designer Elbaz, “and he said yes. And I said to myself, ‘Well, it looks like this project is really going to take off.’”

Highlights included a jumpsuit in iridescent sequins that gleamed like an oil spill with a bow made from designer Gaultier’s trademark striped sweater across the bust. Rocker Pete Doherty’s military jacket was transformed into a fancy frock coat.

American fashion icon and former designer Diane Pernet was on hand at Monday’s show to see her hallmark flowing black veil turned into a hood on a black sequined pantsuit.

“I thought the idea of the project was poetic, and was touched that Anne Valerie asked me,” Pernet told the AP. The result, she said, “was stunning.”