Hannah Kong Unveils Collection

In this era of haste and instant gratification, fewer things take time and handiwork to create. Fewer still are those who approach the creation of such things with reverence. One of them is 29-year-old designer Hannah Kong, who formally launched her debut collection on May 24, 2016 at Aruga by Rockwell. Dean & Deluca provided the hor d’oeuvres to go with the elegant Parisian theme.

The showcase features Hannah’s imaginings woven into life: 15 pieces of decadent broderie d’art occasion wear, most taking hundreds of hours of meticulous stitching, beadwork, and embroidery known as the Lunéville or Tambour technique. The young couturier is one of only few Filipinos so far who learned the craft at the Ecole Lesage Paris, established by renowned couture embroiderer François Lesage. The storied Maison Lesage goes back to 1924, and the couture house worked with fashion luminaries such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Louis Vuitton, Valentino Garavani, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Chanel under Karl Lagerfeld. The latter acquired Lesage as part of the Maison Chanel in 2002, in efforts of preserving and promoting the craft of fashion artisan workshops.

It’s evident in her designs that apart from the skills she learned in the Professional Training for Haute Couture course, Hannah brought home from Paris this new found appreciation for handcraftsmanship. The designer ’s work may be likened to a painting. Her canvas: silk organza on an embroidery frame. Her brushes: needles and hooks. Her paints: threads, beads, and paillettes. Her chosen tools of trade allow for limitless options of materials to play with: traditional fabrics, leather, metallics, mesh, precious stones, and virtually anything that can be sewn together to form intricate patterns that seem to float on a beautiful silhouette. She passed on her techniques and penchant for details to her staff, resulting in exquisite works of wearable art that speak for themselves. Despite her relative newness, her creations have captured the fancy of editors, stylists, celebrities, and brides-to- be looking for the perfect dream of a dress.

“This collection is all about creating romantic, timeless pieces. It’s really in the details,” says Hannah. This is why for her, the success of the launch is as much on her staff. “I want to celebrate them. Their hands make the beautiful gowns. They are the real artisans behind each one.”

Hannah’s showcase harks back to her time in Ecole Lesage and all her experiences from the past few years since. Her dresses are named after teachers, roommate, earliest clients, and favorite French names. “My show is very French, the feel of an afternoon stroll in the gardens of Versailles,” she says. “It’s an ode to my stay in Paris.”

Down the line, Hannah Kong is looking into prêt-à-porter. “But our focus is custom bridal because I love being able to do a lot with a wedding dress,” she says. “I really love embroidery and I’m trying to push the craft. I want to show that there is so much more to it, it’s really an art”. If her debut is any indication, she is poised to succeed.”

Before enrolling at Ecole Lesage Paris, Hannah Kong was an Economics major at De La Salle University. Even then, her heart was in the fashion business: her dad ran a garments company, and she interned for a top magazine, worked as a part-time stylist, and managing her line of jewelry and accessories. Hannah wasn’t sure she had found the right fit in her course. It was after taking introductory classes in Textiles and Drawing at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco that she finally decided to do fashion full-time. Paris beckoned.

Upon finishing her intensive Professional Training for Haute Couture program at Lesage in 2011, which she took after finishing Fashion Design at the College of St. Benilde, she came home and then promptly started her design career. Hannah began creating custom bridal, formal evening, and other types of occasion wear using the techniques she learned at university and her time in Ecole Lesage. In 2015, she went back to further expand her skills and learn a new technique. Through word-of- mouth marketing by clients and friends in the industry, Hannah managed to make a name for herself in such a short span of time.

In a sit-down interview, the young designer shares what it has been like so far.

What was your path to becoming a designer?

“I was exposed to fashion as a kid. So I’ve always loved anything that has to do with fashion but I was actually confused about what I wanted to do. I went to La Salle first, I did Economics. After a while, I felt like, “Okay, this isn’t actually for me.” I was failing my subjects. I was looking for something else. After two-and-a-half years, I went to the US for a term to take intro classes in Academy of Art University. I worked as a stock girl for an online retail shop and got paid in designer jeans! Then I went back and I knew I wanted to do this. When I started, it was really word-of-mouth and very supportive friends who got me up and running in creating and designing. I didn’t even have a Facebook page and I didn’t post my work online until last year.”

Your work is intricate and detail-oriented…

“Yes. I believe God is the ultimate designer, everything in nature seems so much in place, the colors and the attention to the minutest detail, whenever I think about that, I get inspired. I also used to collect vintage pieces. Nowadays, it’s more fast fashion, machine-made and mass-produced. If you look at vintage pieces, there’s a lot of handiwork involved, more attention to detail. In school, it’s what we were taught. You work on your embroidery pattern from the wrong side. If the back part is nice, the front is going to be nice.”

What’s your design process?

“It depends on the client and the type of gown I am working on. Some clients give me a theme and leave the designing up to me. Others send me pegs, they say they love this color scheme and this silhouette and from there, I try to combine what they ask into a rough sketch and I add in my inputs. Most of the designing comes when the base of the dress has been made and has been fitted, from sketch to execution on the real body can be very different, I like having my clients inputs too once we fit on where we can place the embellishments or the laces.”

What’s next for you?

“The great Anna Wintour said “Fashion’s not about looking back. It’s always about looking forward.” I try to learn from my mistakes and improve on what I’ve done, learning is always what’s next for me. But in terms of the line, with the launch of the website, we might go into ready-to-wear, still leaning more into bridal and cocktail wear than casual. It allows me to do more of what I love, and I hope we can be able to do more of the beading and embroidery to each piece.”