Moritz Rogosky: The Unexpected
By Timothy Hagy
(Photo by IndigitalTV)
PARIS, Jun 29, 2003/ FW/ --- Didier Grumbach, president of the French Federation of Couture, sat front row at the Moritz Rogosky show Saturday noon, this after having mingled with the rich and famous late the previous evening at the exclusive Jean Paul Gaultier launch party.
"The younger labels are 90 percent dependent on exports," Mr. Grumbach told Agence France Presse earlier in the week. "In the current context, it's difficult, but we just need a bit of an upswing and sales will pick up."
So showing his support for a little known, young designer, Mr. Grumbach put words into action.
Moritz Rogosky is not a household name, but he should be, for he delivered a candy-striped winner of a collection, from a commercial point of view at least. His collection entitled "The Unexpected Man" was held in the Georges Pompidou Center.
Mr. Rogosky is savvy. Improving on missteps of the past, Saturday's show for Spring / Summer 2004 was presented by a new crop of top models just arrived from Milan. If half the pitch of selling is in the presentation, the battle was won before the show even began. You could throw a potato sack on these knockout guys, and they would still sparkle like a 25-carat diamond.
Take Will, whose various turns on stage graced a waxed linen split-back jacket, then a hand-knotted sheer top (What a burst of genius that was, given Will's sculpted chest).
Then there was Liam in a pear-yellow snap down raincoat, or in an ice-blue open jacket; Santiago in a raw-edge silver silk and wool blazer, and Brent in a flowing pair of beige pants tied up with a black cummerbund.
Buffed and tanned, they strolled the catwalk and posed for the camera's eye. Ingenious!
None of this is to dismiss the designer's talent. To the contrary, Moritz Rogosky's sensuous color scheme dashed with dusty apricot, frosty raspberry, and tangy lime made for a veritable sorbet that would cool the hottest of summer's days.
Unexpected or not, let's hope that burst of flavor creates the upswing the industry is banking on.
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