Voyage -- People Buy It
By Godfrey Deeny
Photo by Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Oct 3, 2002/ FWD/ --- There were precious few critics and editors in the front row of
Voyage's catwalk show in Milan Friday, which seemed kind of dim given that there wasn't
exactly a shortage of buyers.
Heavy hitter pencils from Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdales got prime real estate as did
Tommy Purse, owner of Los Angeles famed boutique Maxfield and a gentleman with a highly
developed nose for what moneyed consumers want to buy.
Perhaps the fashionistas stayed away because of last year's widespread reports of financial
difficulties in the house of Voyage, which first garnered a big reputation for its sniffy
door policy in its flagship London boutique.
Certainly the presentation didn't help - a rambling display of lots of trends and looks
that was desperately in need of radical pruning.
But, the fact of the matter remains that the buyers were right and the critics wrong.
With everyone and their lover buying expensive items in denim, Voyage sent out some genuinely
new and groovy looks in that the very fabric, evoking the inspiration behind the collection,
Africa.
You could also see the hairs of the back of the buyers necks stand up when the first
denim skirts, embroidered with boogie men's head, mini crocodiles and bush ghosts first
hit the runway, and the ink flow at the sight of some standout jeans, made multicolor
with tribal symbols, Saharan graphics and caravansary colors.
For those who's credit card doesn't quite extend to Dior, Voyage provides a happy home,
bright, gutsy colors, sampled and artily graffiti looks - Lawrence of Arabia appear on
immense sleeves, Omar Sharif on a clinging semi-sheer T-shirt.
Purists could object to Voyage's shameless sampling.
A percussion band, their members sprinkled throughout the audience welcomed guests,
a huge video screen showing everything from Tarzan to warring Zulus, heightened the
atmosphere and the clothes lifted imagery from literally scores of culture.
And, yet, there are plenty of people out there who will wear these clothes - and look
damned sexy doing so.
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