Mary Alice Haney, designer for the Hollywood A-list

The View magazine had a small chat with Mary Alice Haney, a fashion designer with Hollywood A-list clients including including Reese Witherspoon, Eva Mendes and Jennifer Lawrence.

TV: Hi Mary Alice, how are you? Tell us a bit about you.

MA: I was born in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. I loved tracing over the pages of Vogue as a little girl and absolutely loved the art of fashion. I was an art major with a master’s degree in design followed by intensive studies in Paris where I attended Parsons School. Following a job with Harper’s Bazaar in Paris, I decided to make a career out of it.

TV: How did you get in touch with creativity?

MA: I have always been a creative person. I got a painting scholarship to college and have always loved design and art.

TV: When did you enter the world of fashion and what was your first job?

MA: My first job was at Harper’s Bazaar in Paris. I assisted the Paris editor during Paris Fashion Week. My greatest obstacle was not being able to speak French. I would try to speak in French, but they would answer back in English, so I never really mastered the language.

TV: In your opinion, what makes a stylist a good/great stylist? What should someone who wants to move up as a stylist always do?

MA: What makes a great stylist is taste, style and vision. A client hires you to make them look their best and you need to be constantly educating yourself on new trends and designers. It is also important to understand fit and tailoring.

TV: Many times, editors are also stylists, why do you think that’s the case?

MA: An editor tells a story in a photograph and a stylist does the same thing on the red carpet.

TV: So with all that creativity, at some point you thought “I know what I love to see on a beautiful woman, let’s design my own dress!”?

MA: I had studied at Parsons in Paris and had always known I would design at some point. I think starting HANEY two years ago was a perfect culmination of everything I had done so far in my career.

TV: Who and what kind of woman, is a Haney woman?

MA: Our tag line is SEXY. CALIFORNIA. GLAMOUR. A HANEY woman wants to feel sexy at any age, but also wants to be comfortable. She has an ease about her glamour. She is not fussy, but knows what she wants. She is VERY confident and when she puts on a HANEY it makes her even more so.

TV: Editor, stylist, designer. What other roles can we expect from you in the near future?

MA: I am creating a luxury brand and look forward to expanding that brand into other categories like shoes, jewelry and bags. However, I want to make sure I expand in a smart, methodical way. Timing is everything.

TV: What is your favorite way of spending free time?

MA: I spend all my free time with my husband and 5 kids. They are my greatest joy. I also have an amazing group of women who are my best friends, and I make sure to spend time with them. A tribe of women that love and support you are so important.

TV: Thanks Mary Alice!

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Check out more designs on the Haney website.

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