DOTTED AROUND THE PACIFIC, VOXFROCK FOUND DOZENS OF DESIGNERS RE-INVENTING FASHION’S MOST LOGICAL AND LOVELY GARMENT, SEASON AFTER SEASON. ON THE LIP OF ANOTHER LONG, HOT SUMMER, CONSIDER THE ANCIENT KAFTAN A MULTI-USE SOLUTION WHEREVER YOU’RE TRAVELLING. HERE’S A HANDFUL OF OUR FAVORITES.
WORDS: JANICE BREEN BURNS, JBB@VOXFROCK.COM.AU, MAIN PICTURE, TOP: CAMILLA monotone “Wanderlust” kaftan, $799
It is the perfect fashion garment; a simple voluminous fabric sheath that packs flat, wears lightly and gracefully, is cool like a breeze and offers a dramatic, moving canvas for designers’ creativity. The kaftan – a staple of Mesopotamian dress thousands of years ago – has wafted in and out of fashion so often in the past century it’s earned “classic” style status. This means the kaftan is “trend transcendent” now; whether or not it’s identified as a key look in any season, it can never technically be “out” of fashion.
LEPOU “Spray of Sunshine” silk chiffon kaftan with hand printed border and removable collar, $550.
“Versatility is the key to its success and historical endurance,” says Tara Levitt, director of Starblu, a global kaftan brand she founded in Hong Kong 10 years ago. “Kaftans are now available in thousands of colours, fabrics, sizes and prints; they keep you cool while looking your best, provide great sun cover and are the perfect solution to go from the beach or pool to restaurant or bar.” You can also add “banquet or ballroom” to that range of kaftans’ use potential. On the drawing boards of intuitive designers, kaftans can adapt – a kinked waistline here, a tapered hemline there, here a ruche, there a splice – to accentuate their natural potential for womanly glamour, girly prettiness, or simple, fashionable chic.
ROBERT KENNEDY “Alesandra” mono shoulder kaftan, $83.
Pure silks including airy chiffon, for example, can be coaxed to lift and flutter, or sway out dramatically behind a woman as she walks. Soft ties and strategic darts can be engineered to flatter womanly curves, but gently and comfortably, without gripping. Kaftans’ necklines invariably beg some embellishment and designers oblige with elements from subtle embroideries to glinting paillettes and crystals, and even wide, ostentatious rivers of sparkling, facetted gemstones. For simpler applications, pure cotton kaftans in summery prints can be cut short and chic, or maxi length for beach bohemians. And, the stylish potential for white kaftans – in cottons, linen, silks, any fabric at all – is literally limitless.
STARBLU “Naxos” kaftan in pure silk chiffon, hand dyed turquoise and azure with silver toggle detail, $147.
Many designers who specialise in kaftans also become renowned for exploiting the creative potential of so much fabric in a single garment. Fiji’s Robert Kennedy, for example, recently released Sasusalu, his marvellous collection inspired by the heavy mother-of-pearl shell jewellery of local tribes. Samoan-born Sydney designer Fai Leipou Peni describes her current intensely coloured collection – as simply; “Inspired by the rainbow…truly loud and bright.” And, renowned Australian kaftan designer, Camilla Franks, describes finding inspiration for her extraordinary “In the name of the tribe” collection in the wildest regions of Vietnam. “The recurring story was connectedness,” she recalls of her time with the remote tribes. “In these communities, each rich, intricate design of identity is as unique as the wearer.”
Miss Franks’ use of black and white in this collection is also an elegant shock in a kaleidoscope of kaftans traditionally dominated by vivid colour or sugary white, proof there is undoubtedly as many different kaftans in the world as there are women.
(This article first appeared in Air Niugini’s inflight Paradise magazine.)
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