According to the media release on our seats, Wesley was inspired by “his experiences traveling through the islands of the Caribbean Sea, seeing the beauty of the lands and of their people.” His collection was billed as a “modern interpretation of island living from the lazy days at the beach, to the steamy nights out.” So it was perplexing that his collection’s accents didn’t look Caribbean at all, but native.
The clothes were wearable, but boring, and looked borrowed from the likes of Laura Petites. I’m convinced I saw the same dresses with pink color blocking minutes before in the Martin Lim portion of Mercedes Benz Startup. As if in an attempt to make up for its lackluster designs, the collection was accessorized with every possible Native American stereotype.
Massive feather headdresses, saber tooth necklaces, fringe scarves, and braided pigtails were so mismatched, it was almost offensive. After the recent Urban Outfitters Navajo debacle, it should be clear to designers that trademarks of aboriginal culture aren’t to be capitalized upon because your store isn’t cool enough or because your collection isn’t dramatic enough.
Every time I saw a headdress come down the runway, I could only think of the flocks of inhumanely slaughtered birds behind this misguided feather trend. You might as well deck the models out like this:
The only thing I want from this show are the models’ lush synthetic eyelashes. These Shu Uemura falsies are simply fabulous, and so wispy they’d have Sophia Loren doing a double take.
Photos courtesy of the FDCC.
Dash
October 20, 2011
Its unfortunate that you do not understand the correlation of the Indigenous People to the West Indies / Caribbean. Prior to cutting down and taking shots at people’s work, one must FIRST consider why they did the things they did. If you don’t understand, one must ask the questions prior to making statements that miss the mark. Although one is entitled to their opinions, one must first understand what they are attempting to comment on, and clearly, you do not. I am all for free speech, hence my statements here, however there are moments when I consider the negative side of free speech and technology………and your comments provides one of these situations.
I invite you to educate yourself, and read: The Indigenous People of the Caribbean Book by Samuel M. Wilson (circa 1996). You would have left that fashion show applauding the artist as opposed to tearing him and his work down. The courage portrayed:
- White male
- All ethnic models
- Caribbean / Indigenous fashion
- Different
I applaud him.
Perhaps I will create a blog where I just comment on your blogs?!? Long live free speech!
Dash (Black male)