HANLEY SS16 Inspiration Film

HANLEY Creative Director, Nicole Hanley was inspired by the work of critically-acclaimed Cuban artist Enrique Rottenberg on a new HANLEY SS16 Inspiration film. The film explores Cuba’s hospitality, idiosyncrasy and diversity through Rottenberg’s series of photographs named “Sleeping With” in which the artist photographed hundreds of bedrooms.

The Spring-Summer 2016 HANLEY collection, the brand’s third presentation during New York Fashion Week, is a study of discoveries and revelations, drawing on Creative Director Nicole Hanley Mellon’s reflections on a recent voyage to Havana. This season, the HANLEY collection is imbued with subtle references to her experiences, observations and conversations in Cuba’s capitol. Once coated in bright colors, the sundrenched, faded facades of Havana’s architecture, informed this season’s atypical palette. At first glance, hues may seem not to naturally correspond; brick is paired with peach, mustard with chartreuse. Worn and weathered walls, no longer white, but coated in powdery layers, provided inspiration for a unique plaster print. Hanley’s colors and references were also inspired by the works of renowned artist, Enrique Rottenberg, whose works Hanley discovered during the trip. Rottenberg’s series “Sleeping With” is a photographic chronicle of hundreds of bedrooms taken across the island of Cuba revealing an intimate portrait of Cuban life. Several of these photographs will be on display at the HANLEY Spring-Summer 2016 presentation. The notion of uncovering, of scratching beyond the surface, manifests more literally in layering, which has become a signature for the brand. Unexpected textures and patterns are created by pairing sheer fabrics with printed materials. The designs, meant to be mixed and matched to comprise a complete wardrobe, expand on the sportswear brand’s core values: a sense of ease, balance of proportion, texture and color and attention to detail. Every piece is designed with the intent that it be important in and of itself, and to the collection as a whole. The HANLEY Spring-Summer 2016 collection also explores the idea of the uniform, reinvented. Military references, softened and subtle, can be seen in separates and dresses, while traditional men’s silk tie fabrics were retreated and purposefully used to create an array of wardrobe staples, including blouses and trench coats. The ease of a uniform can be quite liberating and, as such, HANLEY seeks to make sophisticated dressing easier for women. – from Hanley