BY RUPAK D SHARMA
BANGKOK, FEB 6
Ladies, be prepared to don outfits splashed with strange looking patterns and abstracts in bold colors, as art will dominate fashion in the upcoming seasons.
Whether they be voluminous couture-like gowns, cocktail dresses, flirtatious one-shoulder and strapless pieces or casual wear, most of the clothes you buy in spring and summer will be stamped with big prints, surrealist painting, bold floral prints, and neo tie-dye and watercolor effects.
That was the underlying message of the six-day Emporium World Fashion Showcase 2008, which concluded in Bangkok Tuesday evening.
Of the five world renowned brands based in Paris and Milan that unveiled their spring-summer collections at the runway of Emporium Shopping Complex, three adorned their dresses with splashes of colorful brushstrokes and prints, challenging the conventional theory that elegance always means plain black.
Kenzo, a French fashion giant founded by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada, was the most colorful at the event, featuring myriad of contrast colors like black, peach, gold, turquoise, purple and red. Its flowery sequin embroidered dresses with magnificent color of the tropical forest offered a totally different taste to Bangkok’s fashionistas.
Next in line to convert dresses into a colorful canvas was Emilio Pucci, the innovator of prints which created a revolution in the fashion industry in 1950s. The difference, however, was while Kenzo chose luminous wallpaper like floral prints, Pucci concentrated on geometric and kinetic prints of pink, red, purple, turquoise and washed out shades of blue and yellow.
As Kristen Ingersoll, fashion and entertainment director of Hearst Magazine International put it: “The upcoming seasons are going to be very lively and vivacious. And it is not only dresses, but fashion accessories like handbags, and billboards, windows of stores and magazines featuring fashion advertisements will also be filled with colors and prints.”
However, those without appetite for colorful patterns and abstract art need not panic as there will be choices for them as well, she added.
At the fashion event there were brands like Chloé that unveiled dresses with subtle colors accented by small embroidered flowers and prints, perfect for those who do not prefer bold colors.
And for those who don’t like change, there were outfits in plain neutral colors and neo-neutral color like safari brown designed by Valentino and Chanel. In addition to that clothes with traditional polka dots and ruffles, and gowns with intricate laces were also on offer.
“But if you want to be trendy and hip it is colorful prints this spring and summer,” Ingersoll said.
And who knows even if you don’t like colors you may fall for it once you see it. “After all it’s the mood and the way you perceive things,” Ingersoll said, giving example of how Shakira, who had initially rejected to pose for photographs in outfits with floral prints later agreed to after inspecting the dresses. (Published in The Kathmandu Post)
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