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Mannikin
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Has all black run its fashion course?
Suzy Menkes IHT.
From bold Pucci-esque prints to bright color, London's shows last week made a strong showing for the optimistic fashion that had already been on display in New York's fashion week.
So here's the question: Is it all over for all black?
The graphic, eye-popping mixes of black and white on so many runways prove that black is not entirely out of fashion. In fact, that negative/positive look was shown every which way in geometric blocks, stripes and squares to striking effect.
But after 20 years of monochrome and an entire generation brought up to believe that black is cool, the tables seem to be turning. To be radical in fashion is to embrace color.
With a touch of brightness or even full-blown butterfly wings of pattern and vivid hues, black has become the accent rather than the main focus. And this for the first time since Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto made funereal shrouds the epitome of cool in the 1980's.
The very idea that the front row at the international shows might be splattered with color and print - especially the Prada 1970's-meets-Art Nouveau revival prints on skirts and blouses - would have been unthinkable even two years ago. Yet it has come to pass. After bags and shoes were given a color make-over, now clothes are having their turn.
It would be ridiculous to claim that the reign of the Little Black Dress - introduced by Coco Chanel in the early 20th century - is over. That outfit remains as an emblem of chic. But black from head to toe does not look as cool as it once did.
The designers who closed London fashion week were an object lesson in the different ways to play the new fashion game.
Julien Macdonald is never going to be cool about color, because his aim is to show fashion that is hot. Too hot. For who but Emma Bunton (Baby Spice from the old Spice Girls quintet) and attendant show-biz celebs sitting front row are going to wear spiders' webs of crystal over cut-out swimsuits, an orange sweater with peep holes on the body or a cat suit covered with swirling print?
The designer's favored colors were metallic silver, gilt and anything else that glittered on the mirrored runway. "Erotic" read the invitation. But the sex quotient, like the rest, was in your face.
Julie Verhoeven is an exceptional graphic artist, but she is finding it hard to integrate this talent into her Gibo shows. Just occasionally, her fine-nib drawings would light up a gray jacket or her modern geometry insinuate the drawing of an eye into the bodice of a dress. But her own eye seems less sure for the cut and drape of the clothes, although she has developed the line since she started at Gibo.
Ah, the Riviera! It is one of the inspirations for the spring/summer 2004 season. Clements Ribeiro filtered that through the wardrobe of Wallis Simpson, later Duchess of Windsor, to give a fresh, seashore glamour to their look.
"It was all about the Riviera thing, not making it a fashion statement but for flowers and prints," said Inacio Ribeiro, referring to tweedy linen finishes, shoulder brooches, wrap dresses and Elsa Schiaparelli embroideries, all inspired by the Simpson wardrobe.
International Herald Tribune
Intresting though I wanna share.