admin After a brief hiatus, the designer Raffaella Hanley has returned with a new Lou Dallas collection. “I wanted to hone in on the vision and make sure the quality (of the clothes) was matching what was in my brain,” she explained on a recent morning at her Chinatown studio. “Looking back, I was so scrambled and I feel like I was going in 8,000 directions and that was great, it got people to know the brand, and I made so many connections, but I felt personally dissatisfied.” She added, “Taking a break is literally the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” It seems that waitressing at Lucien—her “year of rest and relaxation” job—was a catalyst for her creativity. She brought in a business person, moved to a new studio, and set about creating Lou Dallas version 2.0.
Hanley hasn’t lost her appetite for fantasy and the very feminine—she said this collection was inspired by rhythm gymnasts, ergo the very short skirts with ruffles and tulle details, and the dresses pieced together from mismatched tights. The real surprise lay in the sporty thread that ran through the season. A series of collaged leggings and bike shorts in her signature melange color palette were made of strong cotton able to withstand a vigorous workout or a brutal New York summer day (Hanley was wearing a pair of short-shorts on the day of our visit). In the look book they appeared under gauzy watercolor-esque slips, or were worn with matching hoodies (cropped and regular length), becoming a sort of Lou Dallas wardrobe building block in the process.
Elsewhere, chunky coats made from deadstock upholstery with brightly colored fleece were absolute standouts. Their ineffably cool energy was bolstered by Hanley’s attention to details; like the way she cut their silk lining extra-long, recalling both a well-loved coat reaching its final days and a glimpse of a slip being worn underneath. She added, “I really want to focus on making everything feel special and like you will wear it forever, because a part of me is also like, ‘there’s too many clothes’, you know?”
