Saturday, June 23, 2007

Couture and the Caftan


For 11 years running, the now world-famous Caftan runway show has been causing a commotion on catwalks throughout Morocco. This year the show took place in Agadir, where designers once again pulled out all the stops to make this one spectacular event. With al the elegance and sophistication of premier stylists, designers brought on a feast for the eyes and a lust for a renewed wardrobe a la mille et une nuits (thousand and one nights).

Colors were large and exciting: emerald greens, blue turquoise, canary yellow, and passion red. As is the custom, caftan collections respected the finer details of the traditional Moroccan dress all the while displaying finishes tres haute couture.

Accomplished with a focus on high-end fabrics, caftans were stitched in satin broques, taffetas, and rich velours. Luxury textiles were topped and finished with wide sashes, embroidery, pearl buttons, and woven-in swarovski crystals. There was quite a bit of an interest in glamour. While some designers took their inspiration from ancient Greek and romantic Baroque dress, others brought the flash of Bollywood, or the fantasy of the full color.

Fusing the traditional Moroccan gown with the smoking jacket, the bustier, corseted robe, designers did their very best to stretch the definition of Caftan. From familiar folk styles to calls from far, far away, a variety styles made appearances on stage. In most cases, though, lines remained clean and ancient, ‘oriental’ and elegant. All in all, the show was a very couture set of collections.
( The above image is from the collection of designer Achoucha. )

2 comments:

Gypsy Purple said...

What an absolutely stunning blog you have!!!!!

Gypsy Purple said...

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner....with pleasyre...let`s link..I`ll do it tonight!!