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A Postcard from Mali
PARIS, October 9 - The program notes were very clear. The Cacharel collection was inspired by photography of Malick Sidibé in Mali during the 1970s - "a kooky and romantic vision of West African youth."
Do West African youth buy Paris labels created by a British design team in 2004? Probably not. Clements and Ribeiro are the latest in a string of designers to come up with a "theme" collection. At the last set of Paris men's shows in July, Junya Wantanabe chose an "Alpine Pothead", while Louis Vuitton stuck to "Brideshead Revisted / Another Country" - in an edited version purged of homoerotica. Why is it so hard to think of something that isn't contrived?
The Cacharel collection was full of shades of ocean blue, and the overall effect came off with a sweet, innocent look. Some touches of ethnic art were acknowledged in bold prints and colorful beads, though the combinations often looked busy. In the end, it was sound commercially, and that's probably the only thing that really counts.
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