A Flight to Havana
One has to wonder if the cigars wielded during the weekend’s California Collections were recycled by the assistant stylists between fashion shows, or if each model was issued his or her own puff piece.
The accessory of the minute symbolized those oft-abstract sources of inspiration that the fashion world lives to bestow on clothes. For spring and summer ‘97, cigars suggest Ricky Ricardo’s Cuba. They also recall backyard parties with barbecuing slabs of steak in American ‘burbs, or, among the jet-set, a week on the Onassis yacht.
A series of shows held over three days at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the CaliforniaMart downtown and the Beverly Hilton hotel served up blatant examples of Cubana: A thumping mambo introduced the oversized tobacco-leaf motif on Pierre le Snob’s shorts suits; models in Audience’s creamy, flirty looks cha-cha’d to live congas embellishing the house music track; halters appeared in every cut imaginable; Afro-like hair and charcoaled eyes marked the models; and a deliciously rich color scheme prevailed--chocolate, kiwi, tangerine, banana and aqua.
As for whether a generation raised on Gardenburgers (and one that considers Jackie O’s children geriatric) will make the association is not the point. As youthful consumers continue to plunder thrift stores for their parents’ junior high clothes, and fashion critics try to guess whether trend-setters will ever hit ‘80s’ archives, fashion becomes more than endless revivalism. Is is still retro when it dominates the cultural aesthetic?
For those of you who have flashbacks upon seeing Trina Trunk’s neat skirts, matching dotted head scarves and bug-eyed sunglasses, or Madhouse’s nylon tie-dye tube dresses and floppy hats, or Anna Huling’s wrap dresses, just think of the clothes as favorites that have improved through advances in fabric technology, and benefit from a fit-conscious public that makes these mostly clingy clothes look good.
Motor designer Michael Ball believes in “tweaking tradition through technology.” The graphics on Motor’s heavy nylon, Microfiber, triacetate basics are part ‘90s computer-generated, part ‘30s avant-garde and among the best of next season’s print madness. A computer geek, Ball duplicates a circuit board or a screen-saver in prints that he designs for his year-old label.
Technology is also an obsession at E-poch. But instead of computer graphics, Cubist geometrics and abstract Deco tile prints, designer John Montgomery color-blocked the season’s favorite mix of pea green, chocolate, white and aqua in shell tops, slim pants and Havana shirts.
“I always got inspiration from vintage clothing, Mod styles, the surrealistic Op-art prints of the ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Montgomery after his show. “But I wanted to modernize, make it a very progressive look.” That look is an ode to suburban banality, except E-poch’s summer acid plaids were updated in sheers for men and women and paired with poly-leather pants and jackets.
In the earlier Hot Pix show, the standout collections borrowed ideas from other cultures. Josephine Loka, among four designers trumpeted in this new category, transformed richly colored and decorative silk Indian saris into knee-grazing skirts, tailored box blouses and crop tops that were the buzz of the weekend. Also from that grouping, Eduardo Lucero sent his Argentine vamps out in a blaze of bright satin ruffled skirts and lace dresses with strategically placed cutouts that should be in stores as Evita hits theaters around Christmas.
On Sunday evening, at the awards show and fund-raiser at the Beverly Hilton, protesters outside accused the label Guess of doing business with sweatshops. Inside, the fashion brigade--retailers, press and designers--air-kissed, chatted and saluted California Designer of the Year Janet Howard, Rising Star winner Huling and Mossimo Giannulli, for his company’s rapid ascent to the New York Stock Exchange.
For those still unaware of the 32-year-old entrepreneur’s stellar year, he offered a clue to his arrival in the big leagues by playing a remix of “Jesus Christ Superstar” during his show. Hopefully, the soundtrack was as much a humorous gesture as the designer’s brightly colored checked men’s suits with polka-dotted shirts.
Howard’s constructed jackets, knee-length pencil skirts and a finale walk by porn star-turned-house-music-chanteuse Traci Lords proved a near deja vu experience to those who caught the designer’s entry in the same category last year. This time, she took the award.
