Ensemble

Rifat Ozbek

fall/winter 1994–95 · silk, straw, fur, metal, glass · Costume Institute

Ozbek creates a dramatic, bandstand Turquerie. The narrow top is based on Turkish military overvest, and the bubble skirt evokes the ballooning legs of Zouave pants. By the 1990s, some inhibitions haunt such hyperbolic Orientalism, associated by some with the politics of imperialsim. Ozbek, born in Turkey and living in England, accepts the possibilities and interpretive challenge of an overy exoticism without the onus of political judgment.

Artist

Rifat Ozbek

Date

fall/winter 1994–95

Medium

silk, straw, fur, metal, glass

Culture

British

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Moda & Company, 1994