ASHISH ss14
There's a soft spot in my heart for anything Arab related. I grew up in the MIddle East at a time when American culture was on the rise and, without a doubt, Coca Cola symbolized this. There were often days when we couldn't buy cheese but we could always get our hands on a Coke - they were stocked in every shop, no matter how remote.
I'm partial to a bit of American branding and so I practically keeled over with joy when the first look from Ashish's SS14 collection came out. It featured a pair of sequined covered ripped jeans and a slouchy tank top emblazoned with the Coca Cola logo. Thankfully this wasn't just a one off, there were a handful of other pieces in the collection that bore the same symbol. My favourite of the lot was a raglan baseball style top with blue sleeves and a white body.
Multiculturalism was rife throughout the show. From the models that were cast to the unlikely styling. There were grey sweats, pinstripes and white shirts paired with jeans that were falling apart. Prints were in abundance with stripes, plaid and even leopard making an appearance. Arabic text was present on a slew of the garments. All the looks were topped off with heavy African inspired silver jewelry and black smoking slippers that were adorned with multicoloured rhinestones. It was an amalgamation of identities and it represented people from a host of different countries.
There was, undoubtedly, one stand out piece from the collection: the grocery store bags covered with sequins. Instead of classic branding they were morphed into tongue-in-cheek sayings. There was 'Disco' instead of Tesco and 'S&M' on a neon green bag that should have said M&S. A brilliant idea and definitely the bag I hope to be carrying next spring.
Photos by Jennifer Inglis
