Entertainment

NOT A PASSA PASSA

By ALICIA ROACHE, Staff Reporter

( LEFT ) A design from the Passa Passa Collection. ( RIGHT) A design from Jessica Ogden's Passa Passa Collection.

JESSICA OGDEN, THE much heralded Jamaican/British designer has again provided fodder for many a pen and paper.

With the Jamaican debut of her Passa Passa Collection, the difference between 'yardies', such as the ones who attend street dances in Tivoli Gardens, and foreigners out of touch with said reality, was made apparent.

While Ogden's collection played to much acclaim in Britain, she received none of the fervour from those who waited close to an hour to see her show at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night, the second day of Caribbean Fashionweek.

"A dat dem mek mi siddung a wait pon suh long," one woman passionately complained outside, at the end of the show.

It was the first real show of strong emotion to a collection which was supposedlly inspired by the street dance famed for it's vibrance, passion and energy. In fact, the outburst was in stark contrast to the mild amusement with which the collection was received.

It was a fitting reception for a collection that re-inforced Ogden's mantra for subtlety. The collection, much like Ogden's previous at CFW, utilized old, distressed fabrics to create loose-fitting, vintage styles. The Passa Passa collection however featured more vibrant colours, red, and white or blue and white polka dots and prints. Skirts were poofy, jackets oversized, shorts roomy and shoes and socks harken to the 60's and 70's.

Jessica Ogden obviously restrained herself on the Passa Passa Collection.

Childlike innocence

Even the attitude of the models seemed out of place. As they swayed down the centre of the room off the catwalk, they smiled coyly, swiveled their hips and studiously affected childlike innocence.

Nadine Willis' dramatic strut down the centre of the room embodied the electrifying energy that is the Passa Passa experience. Save that, and the dotted red, white and blue on a pair of knickers (suggesting the night sky) the references to Passa Passa must have been cerebral.

The references to the street dance and to the element of the culture was more obvious in the backdrop, a large panel showing sound boxes, a street sign announcing 'Tivoli Gardens' and street lights.

There was none of the raw energy and sensuality, none of the vibrance, the drama, and the, well, 'passa passa' that is Passa Passa.