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A confection growing sweeter each year, Moda in Miami is a show featuring Latin fashion. The hallmarks on this year's runway were color with a capital C - and skin, skin, skin.
By MARY EVERTZ
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 13, 2001
MIAMI BEACH -- They came from South America and Central America, from the Caribbean and from right here in trendy South Beach.
Under a billowing white tent a few yards from the Atlantic Ocean, some 40 top fashion designers gathered to expose their fashions to a lucrative North American market.
At Moda in Miami -- five days of high-energy haute couture April 3 to 7 -- less was more.
The collections gave new meaning to double-breasted; most of the designers left nothing to the imagination. Models moved down the runway to spirited Latin music, baring chests, tummies and derrieres.
The male models took a couple of turns in full-length coats and sparkly G-strings. For even more shock value, one appeared in a hot-pink suit, black cowboy hat and boots with stiletto heels.
Created three years ago as a showcase for Latin American designers to present their collections to the media and major U.S. buyers, Moda in Miami Fashion Week of the Americas has more than doubled its number of designers.
Under balmy blue skies, the mammoth tent stretched from 10th to 12th avenues along trendy Ocean Drive, in view of the ocean and the palatial villa of the late top fashion designer Gianni Versace.
The casual atmosphere inside the tent, partly decorated as a sultan's quarters with overstuffed furniture and carpeting, was quite a contrast from the formal salons of Europe and runways of Manhattan.
Nobody seemed to mind that the first show of the day started nearly an hour late. People sipped the free bottled water and checked out spectators in below-the-belly-button, skin-tight pants and tiny tops. Being harried and hurried is not the Latin way.
From the elegance of Ruben Campos to the excitement of Sylma Cabrera to the outlandishness of Jorge Luis Salinas, Moda in Miami was a series of sensational shows.
Even before Campos' collection took to the runway Wednesday, the audience was abuzz. An attractive woman in skin-tight black leather pants and halter top collared in rhinestones was ushered to a seat at front-row center. Myriam Hernandez, Chilean singer and 1999 winner of the Best Latin Artist award, was there to cheer for her countryman, Campos.
Campos' collection of 25 gowns and cocktail dresses was the high point of the show. Educated as an architect in Madrid, Campos turned to fashion design 15 years ago. Still, his previous career is reflected in his use of diagonal lines, ergonomic cuts and fluidity.
While he uses yards and yards of fabric imported from Italy, Campos' designs never overpower the wearer. Campos' mixture of materials, and the relationship of body and garment to material and color, made his collection a standout.
Campos favors vibrant colors. A chiffon gown was shown in yellow and lime green with a coral overlay.
Campos won the 2000 "New Star in Fashion" award at last year's event. He is new to the North American fashion scene but has already signed a two-season exclusive with Bergdorf-Goodman in New York.
Alexander Rey of Colombia favored men's dress shirts in wild colors but without sleeves. The designer went for the sensational -- men's skin-fitting, hip-hugging pants in red brocade with a red ribbed shirt, hot pink satin pants topped with a gray ribbed shirt, and a gray suit and a burgundy shirt sans sleeves with a hot-pink tie.
For his fall collection, Jorge Luis Salinas of Peru turned to his native roots. His assortment of heavily crocheted ponchos looked as if he had raided every grandma's house in his native country and tossed the garish coverings on his models. Salinas teamed zigs with zags till eyes crossed looking at them.
His color combinations were vibrant. But they clashed to the point that they made a viewer wondered if the designer was suffering from some degree of color blindness, or maybe needed the help of Garanimal, those animal tags that teach youngsters what matches by pairing a giraffe with a giraffe but never a hippo.
Wearing these heavy garments would take a strong constitution and polar climes.
Salinas, who made his mark in contemporary men's wear with his all-denim company and who was a former International Inter Jeans fashion week winner in Germany, did receive a standing ovation from his faithful. Or maybe it was just because his segment was over.
A true crowd pleaser was Sylma Cabrera of Puerto Rico and Miami. Her designs are notable for their compatibility with ethnic accessories, such as African beads. They're also known for her use of earth tones: heather, gray, deep brown and sunset oranges.
Cabrera received cheers from the audience for her sheer, shiny shirts teamed with wet-look pants. She, too, designed with plenty of bared body in mind, including form-fitting dresses with revealing front slits and only one sleeve each. Under a Cabrera-designed white lace cover-up, the model wore only a black thong.
Many of the designs for men by the Dominican Republic's Robert Flores looked more feminine than masculine. His jumpsuits in silver and purple looked almost futuristic. He showed some of his male models in see-through shirts adorned in rhinestones. Flores' men's collection also featured suede and cashmere suits in turquoise, purple, black and tan. He was also the designer of the G-string and the pink satin suit.
The show is a joint venture of Compania Interamericana de Entretenimiento, Latin America's largest live entertainment company; Opportunity Group, Brazil's largest venture capital group; and John Casablancas, founder and former chairman of Elite Agency Group.
They all joined forces this year with Beth Sobol, who created the original show and is president of Sobol Fashion Products.
"If you are a designer anywhere in the Latin world, we want you to feel that Miami is a place where you can grow your business," said Casablancas.
Moda is a good start.