About Hartwick

A JOURNEY INTO THE HOUSE

1. 

   01

   New York, then Paris

   My work in fashion started in New York City in the 90s as an assistant, first to a well-known costume designer, then to the owner of New York’s biggest fashion trade shows.

   When I was hired as an assistant to a French movie star and moved to Paris, fashion became a language that I learned and loved to speak. From major fashion houses to movie sets amazing clothes became part of my everyday scene.

2. 

   02

   A first fashion book

   In 2002, I spent a couple of months in Morocco shooting my first fashion book, styled with a mix of vintage finds, luxury pieces gifted to me in Paris, and streetwear from a trip to Japan.

   It was a seminal project. I realised the narrative power of juxtaposing cultures through textiles and film.

3. 

   03

   Character, through wardrobe

   In 2003, I became the lead costume designer for a French TV series. It was a huge job and I loved it.

   We shot eight episodes concurrently with eight main characters. I loved developing those characters through wardrobe.

4. 

   04

   Dubai, in the making

   In 2004, I moved to Dubai when it was defining itself on the global stage. We built sets for luxury hotels and restaurants when there were still so few.

   We often shot four or five versions of commercials to reflect the nuances of wardrobe across the Middle East, North Africa and the GCC. I became a specialist in making every detail aspirational and culturally accurate.

   I worked with an exceptional team of tailors from Varanasi, India. Their knowledge was a major influence.

5. 

   05

   India changes everything

   In 2009, I moved to Mumbai. My work as a photographer and stylist took me all over India and across the region: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

   I started to understand the depth of handcraft in South Asian cultures. Histories of families, communities and regions; the riches of empires and Gandhi’s movement for Independence.

6. 

   06

   From Addis Ababa to Tribeca

   My love for textiles and design as a language played a central role as I became a film director, making culture films around the world for clients such as Christie’s, Condé Nast and The New York Times.

   In 2022, I made a film in Ethiopia about women skateboarders. I shot some of the most compelling scenes of my career as they skated through Addis Ababa in traditional handwoven white dresses.

   The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2023.

7. 

   07

   The film became a collection

   While researching my next film, on handwoven cloth, I spoke to monks and physicists about weaving as vibration, and to curators and anthropologists about cloth as the basis of human civilisation.

8. 

   08

   Hartwick Atelier

   It has been a long and spectacular road to creating Hartwick Atelier, a fashion brand made by Masters of refined handcraft.

   Every piece is finely tailored with handspun and handwoven fabrics. We design using heritage techniques and natural dyes, produced by hand with the rhythms of the sun, wind and rain.

   This is an analogue love story that I am delighted and honoured to share with the world.