A summer ’12 summary

Harlequin by Ooby Ryn presents a mixture of the vibrant summer colours with many of her pieces having a combination of both pattern and colour. Ooby Ryn mixes both decade and fashion with her piece, the Spotlight blouse, Mood Lighting jacket and Stage Right pants combining ’70s fashion with the plaid print often associated with the ’50s. Her First Curtain dress draws upon the retro style most often seen in the ’80s and reworks the pattern into a maxi dress easily imaginable for a leisurely day on the beach as well as for that balmy summer dinner on the restaurant terrace. With her spunky creations, Ooby Ryn’s collection is fun and caters to the assertive woman who knows who she is and exactly what her style is.

Where Ooby Ryn’s designs are full of flourishes and girly touches, the Idol’s Eye collection by Cybèle brims with straight silken frames that accentuate their eye-catching abstract designs. Simple yet unique seems to be the theme throughout the collection. The Long dress reflects this simplicity through the white canvas that houses the artful creations present on the body of the dress while the Axis sleeveless blouse and Idol pant fuse classic and modern. The Axis shirt dress drapes itself over the body of the wearer to allow for both comfort and elegance while injections of color such as the Radiance long dress over Radiance short offer a respite from the neutrals that seem to be prevailing this summer. These beautiful pieces meld fashion and high-art, placing the wearer as the ultimate canvas on which to display these ingenious creations.

Abstract creations are not the only patterns this season. As Vaughan Geeson reflects in his collection, florals are just as in. He fuses classic lines with the floral print to create pieces that will be trendy not only this season, but will carry through to future seasons as well. The mauve Bloom tank in conjunction with the graphite coloured Left Bank skirt create the perfect blend of business and summer with lines that offer to flatter almost any silhouette. The Hampton dress, both in black–sand and silver–navy, return to the nautical trends seen last season and contour to the figure with the block colour top drawing attention to the neck and face while the wide stripes draw attention to the legs. The mauve wide-striped Derby chiffon T promises to pair well with most any summer short and conjures up images of carefree days spent roaming the streets holding a gelato or a leisurely stroll on the beach. Geeson also pairs the boyishly cute Bendor T with either shorts or a skirt to create a playful androgynous look or innocent schoolgirl look. The lines are cut simply and cleanly, the wide stripes and carefully placed florals catering to any figure shape, the combination of nautical and floral hinting towards an attitude of playfulness.

While Geeson stays above ground and water with his creations, Into the Blue, the summer 2011–12 collection by Deborah Sweeney, dives beneath. With much of her inspiration coming from the work of Ernst Haeckel and his book Art Forms in Nature, Sweeney’s pieces are foamy cream and greys, sea greens, indigo and navy offset by nude, camel and burnt orange. The movement of water can be recognized in pieces such as the Into the Blue short and Cruise singlet or Waterfall dress, the flowing draped lines resembling the roll of the water in the ocean. The Outrigger T and Into the Blue pants, for the creative mind, resemble the crash of a stormy sea on an algae-overgrown rock, the loose pant lines continuing to resemble the flow of the water over the rock all the way down to the ankle. The Deep Blue dress is one of the most remarkable pieces of the collection, the combination of the sand, white and navy creating an nautical look that would be appropriate both aboard the yacht or at a terrestrial gathering.

Moving away from the sea and into the terrain of the Savannah, tropical jungle or any other exotic location imaginable, Loobie’s Story spring–summer 2011–12 collection gives us the opportunity to look as though we’ve travelled the world without leaving the country. With pieces such as the Langkawi shirt and Madagascar dress, a little piece of tropical paradise can be purchased for much less than the price of a plane ticket and offer the luxury of the looking the well-heeled part without the price tag. The tie-dye pattered Miss Saigon dress can be worn either as the go-to item on those sweltering summer days, or as the piece to catch the eye of the cute neighbour whilst at that barbecue bash. Elegant, effortless, cosmopolitan and sexy, the Cayman cami can be paired with the Fez cardi, Alfresco jean and Nagoya scarf to complete the look of a well dressed world citizen just returned from her latest jet-set.

For those of us traditionalists who prefer the European-chic look over vibrant exotic prints, Ketz-ke’s spring–summer Tainted Purity holds the key to a perfect wardrobe. The Memory shirt and Garb short are reminiscent of the days of innocence gone by but can just as easily be worn at the backyard gathering as for the leisurely shopping day on the streets of Milano. As far as dresses go, the Wisdom dress is light, frilly, and cheerful, contrasting with the more sophisticated aptly named Dignity dress. The Dice shirt in combination with the plaid Daisy short and distressed jean belt paints the image of a self-assured urbane woman while the cut of the shirt flatters arms and the elongates the torso. This collection simultaneously represents the youthfulness and the maturity of the wearers, allowing them to strike a balance between the two to achieve the best of both worlds. •

Ketz-ke

Ooby Ryn


Loobie’s Story

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