Wrote a piece on the Obakki fashion show for the current issue of Infamous. Click above to see larger image; their website is down and under construction for the time being, but you can pick up a hard copy at various locations around town.
Read on for text.
May 29 marked an anticipated milestone for local fashion house Obakki, as the new design team celebrated their first official collection with a VIP fashion show held in Obakki’s award-winning Gastown retail location. Under the creative direction of owner Treana Peake, lead designer Elizabeth Davies and designer Sunita Linde forged a smooth transition between Fall/Winter 2007 and the current Spring/Summer 2008 collection. Davies and Linde made a clean departure from the previous design duo, Genevieve Graham and David Wallace, while still managing to retain the basic elements that encompass the Obakki brand: luxurious, finely contrasted fabrics and sharp tailoring executed with an overall sense of relaxed style. Colour and patterned fabrics were obvious new additions to the design canon as punches of purple, lilac and cranberry emerged throughout the women’s Spring collection, while the men’s collection remained subdued with an abundance of blacks, greys and whites.
The intimate audience, happily satiated by food and wine courtesy of Salt Tasting Room, was also unexpectedly treated to a preview showing of Obakki’s upcoming Fall/Winter 2008 collection. Here we noticed fine detailing – such as cinches, pleats and pintucks – in unexpected places, and the continued evolution of patterned fabrics within both the men’s and women’s collections. Standout pieces for men included the welted leather coat and the B/W plaid “lumberjacket,” while a refreshing tie-dye patterned jacket, an orange oversized hooded sweater and an asymmetrical button-front dress caught eyes from the women’s collection. Indeed, the diversity and range of the upcoming Fall/Winter collection is so distinct that Obakki has since acquired a number of new retailers across North America. This accomplishment, coupled with the celebrated launch of their online store in May, indicates Obakki’s success and accessibility will continue to flourish.
44 Water St.
604.669.9727
