Collection Survey: Katrine Hanna Makes Shoes Inspired By Australian Botanicals And The Moon

Katrina Hanna recently launched her SS19 collection of super sweet party shoes. It’s her third collection, which comes after London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins, and mentorships with the likes of Alexander Wang.

She hasn’t put a foot wrong with this one — four very likeable styles come in a bunch of colourways, but it’s the inspired details that really set things off. Mules come with heels made from Australian Banksia (some have their holes filled with shimmering blue stuff), which have been handpicked from the bush and are unique pair to pair. Another style has curvy metallic straps that remind us of oceans that reflect sunsets. And our favourite style features clear PVC straps embedded with two Swarovski crystals that “adorn the right pinky toe and the left upper side of the foot, like a new sun freckle.” Sweet!

Get to know Katrine and her collection below:

Name:  Katrine Hanna

Starsign: Pisces

Where are you from and where do you live now?
I’m half Australian, half Lebanese. I work between Dubai and Beirut.

Any personal beliefs or values that are meaningful to your work?
I always think of ‘transforming women into an allegory of fantastical nature’. I’m very much inspired by the surreal and fantastical world and the transformative power that footwear allows.

During the process of taking a drawing to prototype and to the final product, I rely on a butterfly feeling, a full body tingle sensation that I get when I see everything come together. This feeling is what I hope the women that see and wear my shoes feel. I want them to crumble with overwhelming emotion!

And what were you doing, learning or practicing before you started working on your line?

Throughout high school I was very into painting and creating 3D products. I went into uni thinking I would be a fine artist, a furniture designer or a ceramist. Somehow I ended up in the fashion accessories course specialising in footwear, realising that I could combine all these elements together. I wanted to understand the parallels between shoemaking and running a business so along side uni, I gained some work experience at Alexander Wang and Rupert Sanderson which was invaluable. After graduation I returned to Dubai, and put all the pieces together and In 2018 I launched my brand. Dubai has changed immensely since my growing up there and I felt it was a good fit to start my brand and contribute to the growth.

Can you tell me a little bit of background on the collection and label — any inspirations, references, important collaborations?

This collection is all about summer. A lot of inspiration came from poetry and the general heated summer romance in Lebanon. This is all translated through the material choice, colour and campaign imagery of the collection.

The Bad Banksia styles are signature to my brand. Many in Australia are aware of the Banksia tree but don’t take much notice to it where as the rest of the world are not familiar at all. The transformative material is unique to itself and also to the market. This season I have elevated my signature raw heel with luminescent shimmery blue, green and gold fill in the holes.

Starting as a flower the Banksia dries up into a pinecone like nut, falls to the ground and then is handpicked from the bush in Australia. During the process of turning the material into a heel, the outer layer is removed, smoothed and buffed, revealing a beautiful pattern that is never the same twice.

This transformative process I find interesting and is a common theme amongst my work, right down to the craftsmanship of shoemaking. Thinking about this gives me tingles!

For this season I collaborated on some campaign images with Beirut based photographer Michèle Aoun. We both have a similar vision of what summer/sunset is all about so it was very easy to execute.

I also produced a short film ‘teaser’ of the collection with a Beirut based filmmaker, Hassan Julien Chehouri. We envisioned the mood of the woman who inspires the collection and elevated it through excerpts of Frederico Garcia Lorca’s poetry.

If you could describe the collection in five words? 
Heat, charming, romantic, feminine, saucy.

If the collection was a colour: Moon blue

If it was a mood: Delirium

If it was an animal: Leafy seadragon

If it was a language: Its own dialect, a cross between Arabic, Italian and Spanish

If it was a place: Batroun at sunset

If it was a time: Sunset of course!

If it was a song: I cant pick one:

If it was a season: Summer — late at night, when the air is heavy and humid

If it was a food: Huge red/green farm tomatoes with lots of olive oil and lemon

If it was a famous person: Sophie Loren

If it was a YouTube video: 

If it was a smell: Orange blossom and sea salt.

If it was a texture: Oily

If it was a quote:
August
‘Against the sunset
peaches and sugar,
and the sun inside the afternoon
like the stone in a fruit.’
– Frederico Garcia Lorca

If it was a film: Jamon Jamon