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The Vintage Belt Buckles in This Dallas Closet Rival Works of Art

This Vietnamese designer collects jewelry and Nicolas Ghesquière Balenciaga.

Becca Lea Photography
Closet
The Vintage Belt Buckles in This Dallas Closet Rival Works of Art

“This is Balenciaga from Nicolas Ghesquière’s’s tenure,” says designer Hanh Merriman, holding a brown, black, and white vest ensconced in fashion history. “It was a runway piece, and I believe I’m one of very, very few people who have this item.” Leafing through her closet, the space is full of items like this one, whether that’s old Rick Owens or an iconic Prada flame-embellished pair of heels. Sartorial merit is a throughline, though this particular vest still manages to garner a special place in Merriman’s heart (and wardrobe).

“I’ve always dressed for myself, for my own pleasure,” says the designer of the eponymous Hanh Collection. “In my 20’s and 30’s, my style was more edgy, experimental, more avant garde. I wore lots of Rick Owens, Margiela, Sacai, Commes des Garçons and some Balenciaga.” Today, Rick Owens persists though she’s swapped some of the edgier designers for her own designs—and a collection of Balenciaga from Nicolas Ghesquière’s reign, of course.

Hanh was born in the countryside of Vietnam. One of 10 siblings, she “learned to be resilient, independent, and grateful for everything I had.” There, she also developed an affinity for color and a reverence for fabric. But growing up, fashion was a hobby, not a feasible career path. She pursued medicine as it paralleled her family’s emphasis on giving back and helping others. “It was clear my heart wasn’t in it,” she muses, “so I abandoned those studies and moved to the States.” More specifically, she immigrated to Dallas, where she worked as a hairstylist. This, she says, was a “wonderful entry into the world of style.”

Merriman began blogging about style and travel in her early days of marriage, but put all of that on hold to raise her family. “I was able to keep my creative juices flowing through making culinary delights and interior design,” she reflects. The budding creative fully revived that fire with the launch of her own line, HANH Collection in 2021. “This brand is a culmination of my many years as an avid observer of style.” In her designs, she injects her idea of what a modern woman wants to wear with the elements of her own Vietnamese heritage.

Those elements are all hanging in her walk-in closet. Pull open the drawers of the island to reveal her obsession with fashion’s objets d’art. Merriman highlights a glittering embellished dragon necklace, a custom piece from Hannah Bernard. “She’s a French couture jewelry designer and antiques dealer. The detail is exquisite—from the vibrant colors to the intricacy of design.” Like we said, when Merriman shops, she shops. A lower drawer reveals an even more spectacular discovery: a collection of sculptor Christopher Ross’s vintage belt buckles that would look similarly at home in a museum. Continue reading to discover more of the treasures present in Merriman's curated closet.

Shop the Story:

Willow Coat

Hanh
$1095

Flame Wedge

Prada
$1000 $575
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