by Chrissy Iley
If I look at photographs of me – which I rarely do but sometimes iPhoto appears by mistake and I can’t resist trawling through them – I notice that I’m nearly always wearing clothes by Ghost or Handwritten. In other words Tanya Sarne has controlled my wardrobe for decades.
They have been amazing go-to pieces that travel day to night, office to party, weekend to weekday, Ibiza to New York.
The fabric she created in the early nineties and that she has continued to work with, has never quite been emulated. They appear delicate and dry clean only but actually they are hardy wash and wear. It packs in a suitcase, tiny and effortless. And the styles; sometimes they are as good as surgery in the way they flatter.
It’s with great sadness that I see the announcement of Tanya’s last ever warehouse sale. The warehouse sales in the past have always been an event. Women burrowing, bundling, and bustling in and out with bags of cut-price gorgeousness. Every piece that didn’t sell at one of those sales must sell now.
Handwritten will be having a winter collection but due to radical changes in the industry this is a radical sale. Pieces starting from £10. There will be some Ghost vintage dresses, one-offs that are spectacular. It’s an unmissable event.
Handwritten warehouse sale, July 3-6, 11am-7pm, 20th Century Theatre, 291 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2QA. Tel: 020 8962 9600. www.handwrittenuk.com.