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subscribe to style file blog via RSSCoven Is “Inspired” At Fashion Rio
January 13, 2009 5:43 pm
Though the debate in the fashion world about the negative impact of copycats continues unabated, taking direct “inspiration” from another creator isn’t necessarily always held against a designer. The latter was the case at Fashion Rio (which is underway this week in Rio de Janeiro) for Coven, a knitwear-heavy label with a fiercely modern but street-friendly aesthetic. The first looks out of the gate—futuristic, body-con separates—owed an obvious debt to Nicolas Ghesquière. A group of Hervé Léger-esque bandage dresses were interspersed with a flurry of fluffy, crystal-encrusted sweaters (like the one pictured here), which seemed to pay homage to Sonia Rykiel. It might sound like an overload of references, but the reality was that Coven designer Liliane Rebehy Queiroz managed to own most of the ideas and inject them into her particular stylistic vocabulary. In emerging fashion markets, a common criticism can sometimes center on a lack of original creativity, but in the case of Coven, it doesn’t apply. Rebehy Queiroz is just finding a way to synthesize the influences that surround her into something unique, which, in my opinion, is a perfectly valid creative approach in contemporary times.
tags: Coven, Fashion Rio, Herve Leger, Nicolas Ghesquiere, Sonia Rykiel
