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).
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