Catherine Malandrino: Poetry of Fashion
By Mari Davis
Photos by: Gruber-FWD
More photos: 1 | 2
NEW YORK, Feb 13, 2003/ FW/ --- Catherine Malandrino rewrote 'West Side Story' through
the eyes of a fashion designer with her 'Slam Princess' collection shown last Tuesday at
Times Square's Longacre Theater, home of Russell Simmon's Def Poetry Jam.
She removed the Romeo & Juliet element of the story, and made Maria streetwise, though
you can still see the remnants of her sweetness.
It was a visit to gang land. It was a study in poetry. It was a fashion show.
Catherine Malandrino crossed cultures, and did it successfully.
After a poetry reading and to the tune of rap music, the models went on stage, wearing
platform shoes and high-heeled boots.
It was youthful, but not too young. It was at that cusp, when a girl has turned into a woman,
but it has not dawned on her yet.
The models were 'Maria' in different guises - sweet and hard, sexy and demure, sophisticated
and innocent all at once.
Wrap and pleat mini skirts in satin and gray suede; leather and metallic quilted jackets;
leather pants decorated with buttons --- the clothes says it all, 'it's a tough world out
there, so you better be strong.'
And there was softer pieces, like the ruffles and embroidery.
The designer is saying, 'She's a woman, she's a child, she is both!'
In the end, Catherine Malandrino hit a chord. The U.S. is in the brink of war. By
using this metaphor, she seemed to say, 'Can't we just get along?'
After all, that was the message of 'West Side Story' in the end.
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