Carlos Miele Sticks to His Roots
By Jenny Bailly
(Photos by Visko Hatfield)
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NEW YORK, Oct 16, 2002/ FWD/ --- For 15 minutes last September 21, The Theater at Bryant
Park was transformed into a scene from carnival in Rio, replete with feathers, seashells and
its fair share of flesh.
Hard to believe this was the same venue in which we oohed and aahed at the classic silhouettes
of Michael Kors and Narciso Rodriguez earlier this week.
Brazilian designer Carlos Miele's much-anticipated New York Fashion Week debut met
expectations, as he staged a spectacle worthy of his homeland, an exotic locale certainly
not associated with minimalist tastes.
Caroline Ribeiro, featured in Miele's upcoming ad campaign shot by Patrick Demarchelier,
opened the show in a shredded denim ensemble, appliqued with leaves and patches.
Many of the denim pieces that appeared early in the show were infused with Lycra
(one of Miele's sponsors).
Corset tops and knit bikinis clung to the models as they strutted, adorned with feathered
belts, arm cuffs and headdresses, like pigeons down the runway.
And that was the idea.
"Pombagira," the title of the show, is derived from the word for pigeon or female dove,
and connotes magic feminine power.
Throughout the show, two female dancers enacted the roles of Pombagira and Venus,
Roman goddess of love.
Hollywood starlets like Britney Spears, L'il Kim and Jennifer Lopez have discovered Miele's
sexy looks, and should find several items in this latest collection that will suit their
flesh-baring fancies.
Black guipure lace tops were paired with silk chiffon and satin skirts, and a gray silk
chiffon dress with iridescent sequins was spectacular as it shimmered down the runway.
Several silver embroidered lace pieces were certainly sheer, but lovely.
Miele offered many one-shouldered tops and dresses, and joined American counterparts
ranging from Anne Klein to Zac Posen in showing asymmetrical skirts stitched together from
several pieces of fabric.
His collaboration with Coopa Roca, a women's cooperative based in Rio's largest shantytown
that uses patchwork, crochet and macramé in its work, was evident throughout the collection,
as everything from shells and feathers to metal mesh and sequins adorned the clothes.
It remains to be seen if the American public will respond to Miele's wild, tribal looks in
a retail setting (in February, he will join McQueen and McCartney on New York's West 14th
Street and open his first store outside Brazil), but they certainly responded to them on
the runway.
Miele received a standing ovation when he took his first bow in Bryant Park.
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