PARIS, October 2, 2008
By Nicole Phelps
Ivana Omazic had the thankless job of going through with a collection after it was publicly announced that Phoebe Philo would be replacing her at Celine later this month. Like her LVMH stablemate, John Galliano at Dior, Omazic said tribal traditions were her starting point, and like him she didn't take the idea too literally. There were Polynesian-tattoo prints on silk organza dresses, "scarified" supple leather pants, and Masai beading on skirts. She touched on other trends, too, including transparency. The rest (from the hand-painted crinkled-voile wrap dresses to the jersey separates to a couple of suits) looked like it could've come from a tribe called BoBo…as in "bourgeois bohemian." You can call it commercial, but you can't fault her for that—not when retailers are cracking jokes like, "I have big news: We sold a dress!" Yes, there were some missteps, starting with an overly conceptual wedge shoe that was missing an instep, but Omazic deserves credit for making the most of her unpleasant situation.
