WHERE PARIS PROMOTION
WHERE PARIS PROMOTION
PRECIOUS LEATHERS From Africa to Paris
CONCERIA DELUXE PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
ITALTESSIL PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
HARMANLI DERI PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
F.LLI MORELLI PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
ERDOGAN DERI PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
CUIR DE LAGNY PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
MYMANTRA PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
EXPOPEL PREMIERE VISION LEATHER
T
his year Klein Karoo International launches eight emblematic and gorgeous collections that pay homage to the African landscapes and they can be discovered and admired at the HCP (Hermès Cuirs Précieux) stand during the fairs of Lineapelle in Milan and Première Vision Leather in Paris. Ostrich leather has always made us dream with perhaps the association with this bird bringing us back to the dawn of time. In ancient Egypt the ostrich was greatly valued for its feathers, which were used as a unit of measurement. When a person died, their heart was weighed against an ostrich feather to determine the soul’s passage to the underworld. This bird, often represented in Pharaonic frescoes, embodies the concepts of Justice and truth. Many centuries later, in the 1930s, ostrich leather became testimony of the sophistication of Parisian women. Blonde, sensual figures in a Tamara Lempicka painting, whose 24 W H E RE PA R I S I S E P T E M B E R 2015
idiomatic and round elegance evokes both voluptuousness and arrogance at once. Trunks of cognac-coloured pearled leather delicately placed in a sleek sedan by a meticulous butler, accessories for a glass dressing table, a clutch bag decorated with a bejewelled clasp, polished nails. An entire Art Deco universe unfolds before our eyes, mesmerised by this confined and powdery space, which is so modern and stylish. Ostrich leather in itself is already a pointillist painting, at times with nubuck nuances, at times a matt effect, at other times shining on its raised edges. It is a small symbolic relief equivalent to the placement of a fluffy feather that came to warm the cold winters of Moulin Rouge dancers or to enliven the adventures of a Rio Carnival in an explosion of colours. The ostrich, its skin, feathers, eggs, represent an entire universe, a state of the mind. From the breeding farms of Klein Karoo a lush green region far to the northeast of Cape Town, that gave its name to the Klein Karoo
International Company, come the finest ostrich leather and feathers. These products are then supplied to top level luxury brands that use them to create high quality bags, exceptional clothes, unusual and very stylish accessories such as the emblematic Birkin tote in ostrich leather from Hermès, a must-have accessory for the most refined and sophisticated women with a vintage version driving prices to as much as $100,000 dollars. Other luxurious items made from the exceptional leather include Louis Vuitton’s The Majestueux PM, which marries exceptional ostrich skin with the emblematic LV monogram, resulting in a masterpiece of refinement with ostrich, lizard and grosgrain tangerine leather. Tom Ford also offers an extremely feminine nude leather pump in ostrich, creating a Great Gatsby-inspired shoe. Luxury timepieces also work with the leather with Baume & Mercier vintage watches putting forward a refined ostrich leather bracelet. www.kleinkaroo.com
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By Estelle Arielle Bouchet
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