Kennedy Wilson examines the current hippiesque vogue for ethnic looks

in fashion and furnishings

ONE of the most long-lasting fashion mainstays, the Ethnic Look, is

back. Now in both clothes and interiors, ''neo primitive'' is

ultra-chic. Once anything ethnic was a sign of ageing hippie-hood

favoured by ''sociology lecturers and Margaret Drabble heroines'', as

one critic put it. But now things have moved from durries and macrame

potplant holders. Funky ethnic can be seen in Rifat Ozbeck's tunics worn

with Native American-style mock-bone and feather necklaces and Emporio

Armani's current autumn and winter ranges.

South America, Africa, the Far and Middle East, and peasant

communities far and wide have been plundered for ideas this century.

Freud collected African knick-knacks, as did Picasso. Tribal exot-

ica was the source of Cubism.

Up-market decorators and down-market coffee bars alike have known the

power that a dash of zebra-skin and a beaded curtain can make. Back in

the twenties there was a fascination for all things exotic, from safaris

to tiger-skin rugs. Minimalist interiors were often relieved with tribal

trophies.

In the fifties African masks routinely appeared in Bohemian

living-rooms. Elvis Presley's Polynesian-style den in Graceland had a

grandeur that the rest of his home singularly lacked.

With the emergence of black liberation and civil rights in the

sixties, styles that borrowed heavily from Africa took on a political

aspect. But it was the white hippie that made ethnic mainstream in the

sixties. Afghan coats, ponchos, fringed suede jackets, and cheap Indian

cotton dresses said the wearer was an ''alternative person''.

During the seventies ethnic clothes came and went and when World Music

made an impact in the eighties there was a concomitant resurgence in

ethnic colours, fabrics and jewellery. The rap phenomenon also brought

African styles to the attention of a new generation. Rap singer Queen

Latifah sports exotic African jewellery and headdresses.

The New Age movement's reliance on Native American philosophy (helped

along by movies like Dances With Wolves) has also seen a resurgence in

the sort of beads, feathers and leathers once popularised by Cher in her

hippie days.

From Habitat's current love of Mexican-style rusticana to the Body

Shop's outlandish unguents the appeal of the exotic is strong. Meanwhile

Liberty and the Conran Shop have flirted with the primitive. With global

ecology the theme of the nineties the designers have looked to the

Amazonian rainforest, African bush and other trouble spots for

inspiration. Meanwhile small chains like Global Village sell crafts with

a conscience from 32 countries. Even Oxfam and Traidcraft shops now sell

desirable Third World knick-knacks.

''Africa activates the sense like nowhere else on earth,'' writes

Dinah Hall in a new book, Ethnic by Design. ''Its colours and smells

are so vivid that the visitor carries them around long after he or she

has left African soil.''

Powerful tribal art often looks best with simple and modern furniture

but Dinah Hall says that this shouldn't be taken to extremes. ''There's

something rather ridiculous about the mud-hut-in-Manhattan syndrome.''

The spiritual power of primitive objects is well known to

anthropologists. What may appear as just a wall hanging or ornament may

well have had had some special place on feast days or in rituals.

Even a small tribal mask on a wall can change the whole feel of a room

and communicate a lot about the owner. Is this a souvenir from travels

in Africa? The primitive-look stands against everything modern and

twentieth century -- against the rational world. It has to do with myth

and magic.

''When I lived in Nigeria I was amazed at how ordinary people adorn

themselves and make their world more beautiful,'' says Sheila Dhariwal,

who runs Edinburgh's Galerie Mirages, which specialises in ethnic art.

''People are used to factory-made goods so that when they come into

contact with hand-made goods from Africa or India, they're excited and

amazed.''

Long-haul holidays and exotic food have engendered a new taste for all

things exotic. Mass produced ''airport art'' bears no resemblance to

authentic art, however, but many modern craft-made pieces have lost none

of their integrity. The fact that people are prepared to buy quality

craft products is good for the countries of origin because the market

will hold.

The danger comes when ethnic goes mass market: then it will lose its

appeal. Marianna Torgovnick, an American academic, suggests that: ''The

primitive has always been a wilful invention of the West. It (becomes) a

grab-bag primitive in which urban and rural, modern and traditional,

Africa, South America and Asia merge into a common locale which exports

garments and accessories, music, ideologies, and styles for Western

consumption.''

* Ethnic By Design by Dinah Hall (Mitchell Beazley, #19.99).