Albania and it's fashion designers are all the rage today (in this post). I had particular difficulties in finding websites (as in, I found none), but I have lots of pictures to make up for it. Yay.
The first designer is
Katerina Bocci. She is Albanian born, but working in the USA. She primarily designs wedding gowns and evening dresses. I liked a number of her designs because it was stuff I could wear and not feel like I'm half naked. The art of sleeves has somehow limped through the last few decades. She was featured in NYFashion Week in 2007 and received exposure through celebrities. As her
website shows, Aretha Franklin wore her design for an album cover and a performance. What I like the most about her dresses is how the construction of the dress plays up the sexy hourglass figure of a woman. Vintage silhouettes are coming back and I think women miss being suggestively sexy instead of putting it all on display. The photo to the right is an excellent example of how she makes the figure of a woman crazy sexy. I kept thinking, "Really awesome opera dresses", but that's because I really like operas and the formality that comes with it (let's be honest, Americans are way casual).
The next designer is
Jona Muca. This designer was featured in
Albania Fashion Week in Tirana, which also showcases other European designers. I particularly liked the dress on the right, but there were other designs to drool over. I like this one for being so colorful and reminiscent of traditional clothes, but clearly modern and very pretty. The pattern is amazing. There is a
slideshow of 6 different designs and I like them all. An image search in Google is a pretty sufficient way to view some of the designer's duds because I cannot find a website to save my life. I wish I knew more about this Albanian designer, but as luck would have it, there's nothing (in English) to be found.
The next designer in the lineup is
Mimi. This designer is also joining the "website-less designer" club from the Albania Fashion Week. I found her (?) through a series of links and slideshows featuring
one particular design that is a dress with an asymmetrical top. One side has cloth draping over the breast, very Grecian, and the other is simply a cluster of peacock feathers. This was easily the most photographed item, probably because it required three angles to get the full view of the unique design. The portions of the collection I saw were seemingly so unrelated. The dress to the right was in her collection as well as very campy, bright clothes that brought back memories of my early 90s childhood. I felt it was a little all over the place, but since I can't find anything more on Mimi, I can't say for certain. I did really like this dress because it looks like an owl ready to attack. I feel like this is the fashionable Attila the Hun outfit because the boots look rural and peasant costume-like, the skirt looks like harem pants, and since I've watched "Mulan" too many times, I think of an eagle. It is honestly a fantastic design. I'm in love.
That wraps up Albanian designers for today. If I had more time to wander through the internet, I'd do more. Until tomorrow!
