The Spring 2008 collection from Swedish menswear and womenswear designer, Carin Wester caught my attention when she referred to a legend about the creation of color.
The Spring/Summer 2008 collection called ‘Purple of Mogador’, is inspired by an African legend about the black alchemist Amogador, who as legend goes, discovered how to create the color purple.
Mogador is also the ancient name of a Morroccan city, which today is a creolised urban meeting point for traditional Africa and the urbanised West.
The collection is describesd as, “Informed by the process of creolisation – whereby two different cultures meet and blend to create a new culture that is unique, yet displays traits of both backgrounds – Carin Wester’s summer ’08 collection blurs boundaries, juxtaposes influences against each other, and resists definition.”
I’m not familiar with the legend of Amogador and a quick search on the Internet hasn’t left me any better informed. It looks like I’ll have to pay a visit to my favorite research librarian unless one of our readers can point me to an online source.
While I run off to do more research you can enjoy a slide show of Carin Wester’s Spring ’08 line. Enjoy!
