Date: 2004/08/27
WHO goes to Acapulco and Aruba in this day and age? It was all the rage in the 1970s and 1980s. but their chic currency depreciated like the Zim dollar in the 1990s. But that's all over now.
I so felt a tropical holiday coming on when I sat in the Darkie collection at Cape Town Fashion Week, which came and went in a swirl of organza and flurry of gem-like beads. I have to thank Themba Mngomezulu of Darkie for presenting me with images I could cling to, while the entire convention centre reeked of unchecked egos.
I have a massive bone to pick with the international press contingent (particularly the French), but the full story next week.
Destination Acapulco. Actually, I felt the Maldives coming on for a while now, but I'm willing to mince to the other side of the Greenwich Meridian.
Darkie is bringing back resortwear in a big, big way by way of the 1970s. And the hottest colour for this summer is saffron. No, not yellow or orange ... yes, ducky, saffron. Saffron is a pungent yellowy hue conjuring images of exotic locales, lithe beauties, enormous fruity cocktails, oddly shaped pools, and huge sunhats.
Darkie opened the fashion week, sharing a show with Craig Native whose collection left me confused and set the tone for what was to be expected at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The entire collection was ultra-sensual, oozing a hint of sleaze. A syrupy zoo of fabrics and silhouettes.
Mngomezulu's summer 2004/2005 collection had different themes. Fabulous swimline for ladies and little trunks, shirt and T-shirts for guys.
Full costumes and two-pieces of swirling prints with breezy and light throws made a delightful impact.
But what really had me going was the complete absence of oversized bags.
Good. Thin, elegant handbags deserve to be dusted off and be brought back into the light. Mngomezulu reaffirmed a woman's sensuality and is not ashamed of his appreciation ofthe female form.
Other colours he played with were different gradings of blue, brown, green and taupe.
Darkie has a strong menswear approach to summer, giving men more options for a night out on the town, or day/office garb.
The fact that you might look like an educated pimp in your wonderfully sterile open-plan office might just be the hook you need to secure a merit Increase.
And, if not as an educated pimp, how about a well-groomed poolhall hustler at home in a ratty dive.
Darkie's girl-about-town mood is sooo going to set this town on its ear.
The bags are going to be in demand nei. coupled with his cigarette pants and full A-line skirts, and always exposed shoulders ... honey, hot ain't the word.
Okay. now it gets to the hard part. Craig Native is one of us ... a bloke who believes in uplifting the masses yak, yak, yak ... viva leftist principles.
But his collection was a disappointing affair and, dare I say it, offensive?
Native's collection tackled green, the same green used to make those horrid "housecoats" the lovely Cape Flats aunties wear around the house, or to buy a litre of milk and chilli polony at the cornershop, baby.
It came out as little briefs and assorted knick-knacks and was used as detail on skirts and tops.
Another chiara bloke next to me remarked he couldn't for the life of him figure out where the collection was going and also struggled to come to terms with the unfunny chlara-onchiara mockery.
That was alarm bell one.
Alarm bell two came thundering down the ramp with a Koeberg Fish and Chips logo.
Native, probably hoping to mimic his success at South African Fashion Week. Moo-moo logos and other Amandla!-inspired Afro-chic is boring to me and I doubt it will ever take off here as well as it did in Jozie.
The opening garments rendered the rest of the collection impotent.
But the Native show didn't spoil the day, with mai still looking forward to the Vertigo show.
Using models and dancers from Cape Town City Ballet, Vertigo chose to entrench its urban street appeal with Adele Blank's contemporary ballet, Syzygy. The piece was performed at Cape Town City Ballet's 70th Anniversary at Artscape earlier this year, but this time around it had more of a street-smart spunk as the dancers performed in actual street clothes rather than the dreary costumes ofthe Artscape performance.
Set to the beats of Tumi and the Volume, Syzygy went down well and was a clever ploy by the Platinum Group to showcase a modern ballet with streetwear.
It was a jivey fusion of two artistic disciplines which stemmed from different cultural periods.
Most fashion week shows leaned towards the theatrical and having such a gimmicky and crowd-pleasing show was a nice touch to the Vertigo label, but it kinda left me wondering what was the real intent.
Is it to showcase the design talent and make people camp out at all Vertigo outlets in anticipation of new stock, or was it merely a publicity stunt to push the label, regardless of what the people think ofthe product?
Fashion Week was a heady affair and Cape Town acquitted herself in a remarkable fashion, regardless of the boorish international press. The week was not without its issues, but the full 411 next week.
SERGIO BEN
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