The new Botter‘s collection called Dear Earth was unveiled at the Palais de Tokyo.
With some collections style, colour, silhouette, volume can be seen as futile, frivolous or even an artificial exercise however at Botter it is clear that they are committed to making fashion as their messenger in these complicated times.
The collection was inspired by the beads used by Caribbean girls to style their hair. Hair and hairstyles have been a central part of black culture since time immemorial. After being enslaved and taken across the Atlantic from Africa, generations of women have used their hair as a final, inalienable instrument to express their culture, pride and self-awareness.
A carnival of colours like fluorescent blue, apple green (chair) enliven their skin. From New Orleans to Port-au-Prince, from Puerto Rico to Martinique, from Curaçao to Havana or Kingston it’s lavish, you could even call it excessive but never frivolous. Clearly it is an existential means of survival.
“Today, we believe that such inventions, or rather such inventiveness, are more relevant than ever. In these troubled times, it could provide the world with some basic coordinates for reimagining a future together. To live by the power of abundant style, which gives voice to the voiceless, which does not hold back, which, no matter the circumstances, provides a means of expression through independent style – against all odds.”
Credits :
Artistic Directors : Lisi Herrebrugh & Rushemy Botter
Styling : Imruh Asha
Casting : Maida Gregory Boina
Hair : Naïma Bremer & Ilham Mestour
Make-Up : Naïma Bremer using Fenty Beauty
Music : Frederic Sanchez
Location : Palais de Tokyo, salle Toguna, 13 avenue du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris
Production : OBO
Decor design : OBO
Filmed by : William Nixon