manish aroroa - fall/winter 2008

the metropolitan musuem of art in new york city recently held their costume institute gala last monday night to celebrate the influence of comic books and superheros on fashion. influential designers such as john galliano, jean charles de castlebajac, and bernard willhelm have repeatedly used comic book imagery in their collections. and in castlebajac's case, has been his trademark that has lasted throughout his lenghty career. well it seems that the superhero allure has enraputured yet another designer. this time around the designer is not from london or paris, he's not even from europe. manish arora is an indian designer who has been showing his collections during london fashion week since 2005. since showing in london, arora has managed to win the approval of the influential critics hilary alexander, suzy menkes and lisa armstrong and have his clothes stocked at maria luisa and even collaborated with reebok for a line of shoes under the brand fish fry for reebok. for his fall/winter collection, arora combined a hodgepodge of influences ranging from traditional indian costume, samurais, knight's armour, and disney characters which resulted in a look that could only be described as wonder woman on acid. as incongrous as his influences were, the humour that he injected into the collection surprisingly made it into an actually commercial one once you took out the elborate face masks. case in point the daily telegraph's hilary alexander wearing one of his designs for the mentioned costume institute gala. while his clothes aren't for everyone, the ones that do to wear his designs have the strongest powers of all...courage and individuality.