Morales - spring/summer 2008
Morales presents a morbidly saucy collection for spring /summer 2008, and it gets the heart racing in a variety of ways.
Colours are delicious this season, and the designer contributes with such delectables as sangria red pinstriped shorts, a crème caramel short-sleeved silk shirt, and a bubble-gum pink chiffon dress. There are plenty of white painterly swirls, in shades you just want to lick off the spoon.
Dresses stand out for more than simply their colour: the painted skeletons might have something to do with it, as might the giant skulls and the corresponding inscriptions. One thing is for sure—Morales’ playfulness always skirts the darkness.
The eveningwear simply slays, with silk-screened designs on a canvas of killer shapes. Just when you think a silhouette is too simplistic to be a Morales, here comes a neck ruffle, or a rose-shaped patch a gathered fabric, or cascading layers that introduce the dimension of movement.
Whatever refinement there is in the blue satin dress, it is undermined by the rough-edged corduroy appliqué, a nod to the designer’s deconstructionist tendencies. And do not miss the dress of a thousand pleats, done up in grey and blue, if you know what’s good for you.
Ready-to-wear couture, that rarest of animals, is hard to find.
Daniel Cox, Fashion Editor
Marek Wlazlo, Photographer
