From Reotra Style’s first look at the Kumasi Fashion Week 2016 showcase, it is obvious the label is used to taking risks. Crafting an oversize menswear tunic with panels of print and embroidered ribbing delineating the tunic into squares draw the eye and hold attention.
Showing a mixed collection of menswear and womenswear pieces, the Ghanaian label tries to create a name or niche for itself through daring ideas. For ideas alone, this label is heads above many of the label’s that showed at the three day showcase.
First off they created their own print on cotton using the batik dyeing technique. Their choice of motif and the dexterity with which the motifs were made had the finished work leaning more in the direction of an amateur art project rather than professionally done print work but again with Reotra Styles, the effort is obvious even if the result don’t quite match.
The menswear pieces are much stronger than the women’s wear pieces in the Reotra Style, the designer experiments with sheer fabric, creating athleisure inspired tunics and kaftans. The entire collection however runs into its rut in fabric choices. The designer chooses to use an inferior satin for the womenswear pieces and some of the menswear pieces. This affects the draping and construction and tailoring, effectively rendering most of the pieces unwearable.
A real shame considering how much work must have gone into the clothes.
Photo Credit: Chasquido Studios
