Interviews: Hannah Marshall
Interviews | Michele Obi | November 27, 2007
Hannah Marshall’s look is as striking as her womenswear label – strong, sleek and sophisticated. Through sheer hard work and determination Marshall has garnered attention from some of the worlds top style bibles and her intelligent approach to design has gained her a following of loyal customers….
What’s the most interesting aspect of your job?
That’s a really difficult question to answer, because running your own business encompasses so many different aspects to it that I love. The most rewarding aspect is seeing an entire collection come together, for example in September when my collection hit the catwalk for the first time to On|Off during London Fashion Week.
And the worst?
Dealing with all the financial going on – like cash flow forecasts and VAT returns. It’s boring and time consuming but absolutely essential.
How would your friends describe you?
Perfectionist, independent, thinker, focused and ambitious.
How would you define the Hannah Marshall aesthetic?
My womenswear designs incorporate Braille coding which stems from my curiosity of clothing and communication which has an innovative aesthetic quality. Discreet Braille coding is applied by various techniques such as embossing and laser etching into contrasting fabrics such as heavy leather and transparent silk chiffon.
Favourite designers?
Balenciaga and Jil Sander are a couple of my favourite clothing labels, as for shoes I love Gil Carvalho heels and for jewellery the amazing necklaces from Hannah Martin.
What’s your earliest memory?
Drawing – everything!
How do you spend your weekends?
A mixture of working in my studio, catching up with friends and spending time with my fiancé.
Any guilty pleasures?
Chocolate is the most concurrent one…
What’s your most treasured possession?
A necklace that I wear all the time, on a chain I had made that I have a really old charm bracelet hanging from that my Mother gave to me.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
I was fortunate enough to have two wonderful mentors, Caroline Coates and Helen Storey whilst I was making plans to set up by business. They taught me that it’s essential to do your research, to thoroughly understand not only your product and how to actually get your product to market, but to understand the industry you’re operating it and everything about your customer. They both supported the idea to take out 12 months for Research and Development prior to launching my business so that’s exactly what I did and I wouldn’t change a thing!
Visit hannahmarshall.com
Photos: Carlos Lumiere
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Intelligent and sophisticated clothing, at last
Hannah Marshall has just won New Generation sponsorship - definately one to watch out for this year!!
I don’t really get it, alot of these are derivatives of Camilla Staerk, and the baby doll dress looks very much like Osman the one that was in the window at selfridges last spring. Love the shoes are they by Gil Carvlho? Where can I get them from?