Sophia Kokosalaki

PARIS, September 30, 2008

By Sarah Mower

Sophia Kokosalaki spent the summer on the island of Crete, and while there found herself thinking of Egypt. "It's not so far," she said. "I looked at ancient Egyptian costume, and there's something sixties in there you see in a lot of movies on Greek television. But, you know, it's always done in a young and ironic way." Oddly, Egyptian motifs have been cropping up on several runways this season. In Kokosalaki's case, as she promised, it wasn't exactly the full Tutankhamen deal. Mostly, it was done by allusion: a strong-shouldered jacket and A-line skirt derived from tomb paintings, the pattern on a khaki trench inspired by early hieroglyphics, and a color palette that included lapis lazuli and gold.

Nevertheless, there was a richness in this collection that Kokosalaki hasn't reached for before. She's always worked with leather, but this season she upgraded, patchworking burnished gold python into boleros, vests, and a top in which a single strap literally snaked across a shoulder like a cobra tail. That more detailed extravagance is a distinct step up and away from the dark, urban collections of the beginning of her career in London, but Kokosalaki is growing up now, reaching new markets and finding herself on the brink of the stage where she can develop her name further. That quiet progress was underlined by the jewelry visible in this collection: Snake-head slave bracelets, cuffs inset with semiprecious stones, and dangling gold earrings and diadems were the first sighting of her new line.