Yeah, I've seen it; but theyre not that special...I suppose they've got a
good fit and they must be super comfy considering all the hoopla!
>From: Paul Secular <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Katayone Adeli hipsters
>Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 07:56:06 -0800
>
>Anyone seen these? Any good??
>
>>- The right trousers -
>>
>>Katayone Adeli is said to design the sexiest trousers in the world but
>>shuns
>>publicity and can't be bothered with fashion shows. Jess Cartner-Morley
>>tries
>>them on to see what the fuss is about
>>
>>Friday February 11, 2000
>>
>>Talk to any woman about clothes, and one subject is almost sure to come
>>up:
>>finding the perfect trousers. While the pomp and pageantry of catwalk
>>fashion
>>hold the gaze of the media, the wardrobe fantasies of real women are more
>>likely
>>to centre around that elusive pair of black trousers. This is what the
>>real
>>business of getting dressed is all about: trousers that fit like a dream,
>>go
>>with everything and can be worn anywhere. Oh, and make your legs look
>>longer and
>>your backside smaller.
>>Reader, I've found them. Not that I can take the credit, sadly: Gwyneth
>>Paltrow
>>let the world in on the secret when she told American Vogue, "I try to get
>>every
>>pair of pants Katayone Adeli makes." Even before that, Garbage singer
>>Shirley
>>Manson told American Harpers Bazaar that Katayone Adeli "knows how to
>>dress
>>women's arses - more people should learn how she cuts."
>>
>>If you're thinking "Katayone who ?" you're not alone. The Iranian-born,
>>California-raised designer is still little known in this country; Harvey
>>Nichols
>>is her only British stockist although this is likely to change soon as
>>industry
>>insiders predict 2000 to be a breakthrough year for her label. Katayone
>>Adeli
>>(pronounced kat-eye-own a- del -ee) made her name as designer for the Los
>>Angeles line, Parallel, before moving to New York and launching her own
>>label.
>>
>>Last year the two-and-a-half year-old label did $20m in sales and won
>>Adeli
>>a
>>new designer nomination for the Perry Ellis award, given by the Council of
>>Fashion Designers of America.
>>
>>Adeli does not, of course, just design trousers. Her designs runs the
>>gamut
>>of
>>womenswear from jeans to evening dresses, with shoes - in association with
>>Jimmy
>>Choo - to be added from next season. But her trousers are legendary.
>>Yasmin
>>Yusuf, managing director of the British high street group Warehouse and a
>>confirmed Adeli addict, credits the designer as "hugely influential in the
>>whole
>>trend for low, tight trousers" - the boy-cut, straight-leg hipsters that
>>in
>>the
>>past five years have replaced traditional high-waisted, tapered trousers
>>in
>>many
>>women's wardrobes.
>>
>>In the hip store Scoop in downtown New York, I try a controlled experiment
>>to
>>see what all the fuss is about. They only have one pair of Katayone Adeli
>>"pants" left in my size - and they're turquoise, not generally a sensible
>>colour, bottom-wise. I try them on anyway and they look good. Really good.
>>At
>>first I can't figure out why. Perhaps turquoise is my colour after all.
>>
>>But no, that's not it. First, there's the low waistband, a simple ploy to
>>make
>>your behind look more petite, as there appears to be less of it. Secondly,
>>the
>>back pockets are placed a little wider than usual - later, at Adeli's own
>>store,
>>it is explained to me that this makes your bottom look narrower.
>>
>>The legs are cut straight, but taper very slightly around the knee - the
>>thinnest part of the leg - to give a lengthy, svelte look. The fabric is
>>stretchy enough not to look bulky, but sturdy enough to keep a clean line.
>>Had
>>there been any colour other than turquoise, I wouldn't have been able to
>>part
>>with my $128 fast enough.
>>
>>It is her skill at flattering the female form that inspires devotion among
>>Adeli-wearers. Adeli herself is an attractive, limelight-shy 33-year-old
>>who
>>prefers to let her press officer, Antony Halabi, do most of the talking.
>>She
>>refuses to be photographed, sending out copies of her publicity picture
>>instead.
>>She has a no-nonsense attitude to fashion, disdaining catwalk shows as
>>"high
>>drama for no drama at all".
>>
>>Suspicious of the media and its constant need for an "angle", she
>>appreciates
>>perfectly that most women are far more interested in clothes that flatter
>>than
>>in wearing this season's perfect shade of purple or the latest hi-tech
>>fabrics.
>>The root of Adeli's body-consciousness lies in her West Coast background.
>>As
>>Adeli puts it, "you wear less clothing in LA", so the emphasis on body
>>shape is
>>greater. Almost imperceptible details are used to make the wearer look
>>leaner,
>>more shapely: a few extra gathers on the top of the shoulder of a jacket
>>where
>>the sleeve starts, combined with a precisely cut underarm and torso, give
>>the
>>impression of broader shoulders and a narrower body. Even the colour
>>palette is
>>chosen to be as flattering to the skin as possible. Knitwear, for
>>instance,
>>is
>>woven from a subtle melange of colours, as a slight mixture makes the
>>complexion, by contrast, look more even.
>>
>>Although New York has taken Adeli to its heart, the West Coast connection
>>continues, Adeli providing clothes for the forthcoming remake of the
>>Charlie's
>>Angels television series.
>>
>>"They wanted a look that was timeless, but modern." says Halabi.
>>Timelessness is
>>a recurring theme in Adeli's work. She avoids "deliberate trends",
>>preferring an
>>evolutionary and practical approach to her seasonal collections.
>>
>>Her designs are clean and easy to wear, but with subtle recurring motifs
>>which
>>add flavour - blanket-stitching on a carpaccio-thin leather jacket,
>>pin-pleats
>>at a trouser waistband. The legendary American fashion editor Polly Mellen
>>describes her as being "about pieces, sportswear and a little touch of
>>femininity".
>>
>>Disregarding the yo-yo of bi-annual trends is radical enough for a fashion
>>designer, but shunning the celebrity circuit is quite another. Although
>>Adeli is
>>"flattered" that Gwyneth Paltrow likes her designs, giving clothes away to
>>celebrities is "a practice she doesn't believe in. If you like the
>>clothes,
>>you
>>buy them." Adeli believes women should buy clothes that suit them rather
>>than
>>ape celebrities.
>>
>>The new Katayone Adeli flagship store in New York reflects her dislike of
>>publicity. Bond Street in the East Village is a world apart from its
>>London
>>namesake: edgy and painfully hip, with a builders' merchant next door to a
>>photographic supply centre, a hardware store beside a cult perfumery.
>>
>>The Adeli shop is spacious and white in art-gallery style, with a white
>>plaster
>>wall to prevent clothes being seen from the street. "We wanted it to be
>>private," says Halabi. "Our customer knows we are here."
>>
>>Word of mouth has already netted Katayone Adeli a robustly healthy
>>customer
>>base. It doesn't take a marketing expert to know that being able to cut
>>clothes
>>that make women look thinner is, to put it bluntly, a licence to print
>>money.
>>Expansion is on the cards; she thinks "it would be fun" to design
>>menswear.
>>
>>OK, Katayone. But please, keep making those trousers.
>>
>>
>
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