Twenty-two-year old stylist and fashion designer Hannah-Lee Turner references nature in her own designs, but it was the streets of New York that inspired her costumes for The Motherf***er with the Hat, which starts at The Basement theatre on June 3 (book tickets here). The black comedy, first performed on Broadway with Chris Rock and Bobby Cannavale, follows a recovering drug addict's "poetically profane" (the F word is used 275 times) soul-search through New York City.
To dress the cast (which includes Fasitua Amosa, Calum Gittins and Saraid Cameron), Turner researched Latino culture and New York street style, and worked with Stefan Sinclair of Two Hands Tattoo to develop tattoos for each character. Her costumes include pieces by Lonely Lingerie and Neuw, mixed with vintage.
"I have enjoyed looking into Latino fashion and the distinctive look it has carried across, [and] collaborating with all the talented actors, watching them progress and take hold of the characters," she says. "Researching the style of what a realistic character would wear and building from their history is fun."
Turner sells her own designs (under label Hannah-Lee Jade) from her shop 203H in K Rd's La Gonda Arcade, and styles for music videos, commercials, fashion shoots and TV shows (she styled Ruby Frost in last year's The X Factor). Her favourite things include an organic mix of artwork, lighting and nature.
