Join Mary Alice Haney at the Mary Mahoney Palm Beach on April 18 for an afternoon of prêt-à-couture fashion. From 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Mary Alice Haney will join Mary Mahoney (the boutique’s namesake) for a day of one-off fashion not to be missed. Haney’s design stylist team and most recent collection will be on hand to help shoppers pick the right fit, look and customization to suit their taste.
- Time with the design team is limited. To reserve a design session, RSVP to Melissa@shophaney.com.
What is prêt-à-couture? Read on for our interview with Mary Alice Haney and her take on customizable high-end fashion.
. . .
Original article written January 10, 2014.
Have you ever dreamed of walking the red carpet, appearing in glossy fashion magazines, setting the trends that will consume the fashion industry? The world of celebrity fashion, where stylists work tirelessly to create a look that resonates beyond paparazzi candids and cable television “hit or miss” segments, has often been seen as something reserved for a select few, the names and faces that grace the small and large screen. Until now.
Fashion-editor-turned-celebrity-stylist-turned-designer Mary Alice Haney has made a career of dictating the trends that graced the pages of magazines and wowed on runways and red carpets. As a fashion editor for publications like Harpers Bazaar, GQ and Marie Claire, Haney helped curate the haute couture trends that matriculated into the greater fashion arenas. Her work as a celebrity stylist, lending her fashion sense to women like Reese Witherspoon and Eva Mendes, set the tone of fashionistas the world over. But through this experience, Haney discovered there was something lacking in the industry.
“When I was styling, a lot of my clients loved a certain Gucci or Lanvin look but wanted to change the hem, the color, what have you,” she says. “So I started to look around the [fashion] landscape to see what was available. There wasn’t really any customizable luxury line.” This is where her eponymous line, the Haney collection, stemmed.
Her recently released line imbues an Old Hollywood aesthetic with silhouettes and lines that are not only womanly in shape and contour but also designed to fit precisely. And where ready-to-wear is nothing new, Haney takes the concept a step further, offering a fully customizable look for each dress in the collection.
“First, I design the collection—the traditional ready-to-wear,” Haney (left) says of her design process. “Then I go deep into each look, essentially creating a collection within each look.” This allows the client to pick and choose aspects that best suit her needs, be it color, hemline, sleeves (or not) and fabric. Customers can design their dress in real-time on the website shophaney.com or at “Ambassador Parties,” small, invitation-only pop-up events scheduled around the country, where local fashionistas act as style ambassadors for the brand.
“You are able to touch and feel the clothes, try them on and then work with me or my team on customization, be it a plunging neckline [or] a color change,” says Haney, who just held an event in December in Palm Beach. “The idea is to bring that couture element to the ready-to-wear price.” And though the collection stems from ready-to-wear, the customized look is not a factory-made garment but a one-of-a-kind dress made by sample makers at the atelier, all specifically styled and cut to fit the client. Although the combination of customization per dress may seem endless, each option was meticulously thought-out by Haney, ensuring every look was expertly crafted by one of Hollywood’s most sought-after stylists.
Take the Alex dress, for example. As ready-to-wear, it’s a mid-calf black dress with strands of pearls affixed to the shoulders, draping down the arm like sleeves. When put through the prêt-à-porter whirligig, clients can select black, charcoal or eggplant for color; an option of mid-calf or above-the-knee length; and a selection of natural or charcoal colored pearls—or none at all. Price is dictated by the options chosen.
 |  |  |
| A few options of the Alex dress. Customers have the option of choosing color, hem and embellishments. |
Available on her website, where customization happens in real time, as well as net-a-porter.com, where a sampling of her ready-to-wear collection can be purchased, Haney is creating a whole new market within the fashion world, where individual style meets the eye of an editorial expert. The Los Angeles resident and part-time Palm Beacher—her family recently restored the famed Vanderbilt estate in Manalapan—is well on her way creating the follow-up to her debut collection. We caught up with Haney to discuss her collection, design inspiration and what drew her to the design table.
How has your experience in the fashion industry shaped your design?
MH: There are a lot of designers who are true artists, and I admire them. And I feel like my dresses are artistic and beautiful, but I also really look at [design] from a lot of different angles.
I look at it from the point of the consumer. … I am someone who buys these dresses, so I know what I am looking for in terms of fit, quality.
I am also looking at it from an editor’s standpoint. I have been a student of fashion for the last 20 years, so it’s not about just throwing something together, being inspired by a leaf outside of my window. This [collection] is very much about what I think is the next trend. I want to be on the forefront of what women will be wearing next year, before it comes out. Because I have the editor background, I have the ability to understand that.
And as a stylist, someone that makes the trends, I have been the person that decides what goes on the pages of magazines and what goes on the celebrities. This collection is sort of this amazing collaboration of all those different elements of my career coming together.
Continue to page two for more with Mary Alice Haney.
What has been the response to the collection so far?
When we launched on Net-A-Porter [in December], we sold out of all sizes in just a few days. It was sort of validation of what women want: luxury, to feel beautiful, but also want to be comfortable. These are clothes that fit and are of really high quality.
Tell me about your current collection.
The line is really about old Hollywood and glamour. I look at Tory Burch and how she embodies the Park Avenue woman and Ralph Lauren is really Americana. I really want to build Haney as this Hollywood glamorous line where women can be comfortable but feel really glamorous. I got my master’s degree in film, so I really looked to film and the history of film, all of these amazing costume designers, for inspiration.
What’s your take on the concept of customizable ready-to-wear?
It’s like an insiders look into a celebrities style team. They all have stylists, hair and makeup people. … we are creating that with the customization, where you can create your own unique look.
Whom in fashion, past or present, do you admire?
I really admire Tom Ford, especially his work when he was with Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci in the late ’90s. To me, that was the epitome of fashion. … I have so many of his pieces in my own private collection. And I look a lot at Halston in the ’70s, what was happening then for inspiration. And I’m really inspired by [James] Galanos.
What’s in store for the new collection?
I tend to like shiny, sparkly things, so you’ll see a lot of sequins and embellishments. And there will be a lot of wearable dresses, which is to say it’s not just something to wear to a party but something you can wear during the day and take out to a party at night.
The jumpsuit (pictured above right) in my first collection has been a huge hit, so I will have another jumpsuit in the second. … I love jumpsuits; it’s something that can easily be worn from day to night.
My clientele is the woman who goes out—or the girl that wants something special but doesn’t want to go home and change three times. So I am focusing on that.
Facebook Comments