 
Nautica by David Chu springsummer 2003.
ABOVE LEFT: Working vessel attire,
super-soft 100 per cent cotton knit shirt, blended denim pant. ABOVE
RIGHT: Leisure outfit for luxury craft, camel suede jacket,
cotton print shirt, canvas pant. Gottex cruise 2003. RIGHT:
Hand beaded tribal bikini with fringe, white on black. BELOW
LEFT: Chiffon blouse worn pearl and chiffon harem pants. BELOW
RIGHT: Coloured modified beaded bikini with belt.
  
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Nautica’s designer, David Chu, celebrated the
20th anniversary of the collection in Milano, "the world stage
for men’s fashion". The large showroom in New York exhibits
the entire collection. Chu’s inspiration comes from the sea and
sky, the gradations of blue and turquoise and the utilitarian demands
of the sea. He focuses on three different groups for the spring–summer
2003 runway show, those on board a "working vessel" of
a great port, those lounging leisurely on a pleasure craft and those
on a surf safari, bound for the waves of Teahupoo in the South Pacific.
Universally appealing, each group accentuates the diversity of the
Nautica collection.
Gottex débuted Cruise 2003 with Michal
Shafir, their new designer, at the helm. Michal is a Tel Aviv native,
who previously designed for Enrico Coveri, Domani and other European
fashion houses. Gottex, a 46-year-old Israeli company, began selling
raincoats, but soon changed their focus to swimwear, becoming the
international leader in the field. They were the first to introduce
the matching cover-up to complete a cruise outfit.
The show’s theme is nature, and the elements of
air, water and light, represented in bright turquoise and flowing
cover-ups and rich coloured floral and animal prints. It continues
with tribal patterns in brown and red Aztec prints sometimes corseted,
fringed or ruffled and intricate beading of onyx and pearl. Those
natural elements add to the continuing success of the Gottex label.
Corky Davidov is special correspondent for Lucire.
Richard Spiegel is New York editor of Lucire.
ABOVE: Gottex
deep ocean turquoise bikini, encrusted with crystal beading
and fringed long skirt.
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