Tanya Sarne is familiar to fashionistas for pioneering the soft, sensual, bias-cut Ghost range, worn by countless celebrities over the years. It’s a style that’s summer-perfect: airy and cool – in every way…
Since selling that hugely successful label, Tanya has now moved on to create a new must-have designer collection, Handwritten.
The fabrics look and feel like silk, creating beautiful silhouettes, and the colours are soft and muted. (Handwritten clothes are fantastic for packing, too: lightweight, and almost uncrushable, so they can be folded into a suitcase and put on the second you arrive…)
The clothes are based on viscose, a fabric derived from wood and mixed with cotton and silk. Through a totally secret process – which Tanya perfected over the years at Ghost – the fabric is transformed so that every piece becomes unique – ‘handwritten’, in fact. The clothes are even biodegradeable, and can be washed – eliminating the need for dry cleaning, with its harsh chemicals, which are bad for the planet and for our skin…
The exclusive pop-up shop – which retails special one-offs as well as year-round sale items from the Handwritten range, at very accessible prices – has come about through a long-standing friendship between Tanya Sarne and Rima Sams, who grew up close to Tanya’s two children in London’s Notting Hill. (Tanya’s ex-husband Mike Sarne, 60s pop star and film director, went on to make a full-length feature film of Rima’s brother Gideon Sams’s groundbreaking book The Punk, which Gideon wrote as a schoolboy.)
‘I felt that the clothes were perfect for laid-back Hastings, St. Leonard’s and the whole of “Sussex-y!”, explains Rima, who moved to the Old Town five years ago and lives here with her husband and son. ‘It’s relaxed clothing, beautifully-cut and with an “eco-appeal” that is very modern. And throw on some jewellery and heels, and it’s instant day-into-night…’
Handwritten pieces at BE include dresses, tops, jackets, skirts and trousers – and once women become hooked on the feel of this beautiful luxury fabric, they often turn into Handwritten ‘collectors’, putting together a timeless wardrobe of easy-to-wear pieces. Prices range from £25 – £120.
Says Tanya: ‘I design to de-stress and give women confidence in their femininity and daily lives.’
But let’s leave the last word to Grace Coddington, Fashion Director of American Vogue. ‘She just makes clothes that people want to wear…’
So drop into BE, and discover Handwritten for yourself…
BE, 70 George Street,
Hastings Old Town, TN34 3EE
For more info/Handwritten visuals contact Rima Sams on 07891-078647 or rimasams@yahoo.co.uk