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Blaak: African Tribal Paintings
By: Sasha Wilkins
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Aaron Sharif and Sachiko Okado of up and coming label Blaak provided one of the highlights of London
Fashion Week so far, with a presentation that managed to straddle the line between directional and
commercial perfectly.
They had a packed audience nodding with approval and, with £25,000 in their pockets from the Vidal
Sassoon Award for Cutting Edge Talent, they have obviously spent their money well.
Stylist Andrew Davies, who has been collaborating with Blaak since their college days, told FWD that the
idea for the show had come from "African tribal paintings and jewelry." And, sure enough, they sent the
models out with braided hair, huge disc earrings and beaded swathes of necklaces against a backdrop of tribal
markings and an electronica soundtrack.
Blaak's early collections were based around the exploration of the emotions provoked by the color black.
They have since successfully added color, using a palette of tangerine, peach and beige, plus a signature
black and white splashy print which they used to great effect in a series of beautifully cut skirts, and a
pair of men's shorts.
They showed their intrinsic understanding of texture, cut and detail with laidback calico shirts, buttery
soft ginger suede dresses with tulle inserts, and clever detailing on pieces ranging from a pin-tucked micro
black leather dress to bias-cut flippy silk skirts, through to the festoons of sequins-on-silk evening dresses.
Their menswear didn't score quite as many points on the commercial front, but you can guarantee that their
leather trouser and biker jacket ensembles will find their place in a rock video without too much difficulty.
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