WEARING Antik Batik is more than a fashion statement; it is a life style. Gabriella Cortese, an Italian living in Paris, is the founder of this refreshing brand. Antik Batik can be described as: voyage, bohemian, fluid, prints, ethnic, regal and chic. But this dynamic brand reflects essentially the passion and emotions of its genial and charismatic creator:
“Women nowadays need to create their own personal style showing their character and their roots. They are looking for an identity, a way of life. With the global invasion of high fashion brands, women began wearing haute couture clothes like uniforms. Today, the trend is toward smaller brands, more personal, unique and exclusive,” explains Gabriella Cortese. Since 1992, Antik Batik has been at the heart of the fusion fashion trends, long before Zara, Mango and other global brands flooded the market with mass-produced ethnic clothing.
A journey to Indonesia inspired Gabriella to produce sarongs in batik with a Western twist and market them under the catchy label: Antik Batik. In the beginning, Antik Batik sold only accessories: scarves, belts and light sandals. Two years later, a trip to India introduced her to the country’s rich handicrafts and she decided to create a line of clothes. Incidentally, Gabriella has been designing her own clothes since childhood. Her first collection featured mainly stylish tunics and kaftans. Her ethnic garments, essentially made for a European clientele, combine a love for vintage with the spirit of the seventies and a festive touch. The clothes are nowhere as flashy as the originals. Gabriella tastefully changes the cut, uses different embroidery patterns and chooses her own palette of colors.
The philosophy behind Antik Batik is a fusion of pictures, ideas and people: deep feelings for the young crowds on the streets, movies, Russian avant-garde, art nouveau, and the bohemian life icons of the last century. Cortese is constantly searching for new trends: “Each and every single day brings a fresh idea and takes me on a new and magical journey.” She is profoundly influenced by Art and the world from the Caribbean to Eastern Europe and the subcontinent.
Gabriella Cortese confesses that she is particularly moved and dazzled by India. She spends up to four months a year there not only producing her collection of clothes and accessories but also searching for inspiration. She has reinvented the “chappel sandal” which has become one of the brand’s flagship items along with kaftans, tunics, flower print dresses and a leather bag embroidered with metal sequins.
The women’s winter collection features a savvy mix of influences inspired by Austro-Hungarian embroidered coats and Gustav Klimt print dresses. Art Deco also features on silk chiffon alongside the evocative Ukiyo wood block trips, creating a harmonious flow of colors and prints on delicate fabrics for dresses and kimono style tops. The footwear features Apache style, tasseled suede bags and boots and the jewelry line combines the flimsy Art Nouveau water lily with ethereal Japanese flowers. The winter collection presents a combination of brown and forest green colors along with copper, and deep dark plum with fuchsia. And the leitmotiv of the Autumn / Winter Collection is characterized by the antique-like sequins and beadings adorning bags, shoes, hooded tops, tee shirts and dresses.
Gabriella has also launched a children’s collection stemming from her “desire to see little angels dressed up in Antik Batik. It is much easier to create girls clothes from a women’s collection. But as I am the happy mother of a little Nicola, the boy’s collection is coming next.” Monica Bellucci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gwen Stefani, Vanessa Paradis, Uma Thurman and Kate Moss, renowned for their sense of style, have all been attracted by Antik Batik’s cool and yet refined look. Antik Batik aficionados are seen as free and intelligent women who travel through time and history. Gabriella Cortese acknowledges that her ideal woman is “feminine, bohemian, and likes to mix and match styles.”
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