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Rites of Spring

Life and motion are the inspiration for this spring's crop of San Francisco creations. A few days ago, I found myself staring at a bus-stop poster of one of those infamous "waif" models--the one across whose forehead some wags have taken to writing "feed me." But what struck me about this emaciated young lady wasn't her skinniness so much as her appalling lack of muscle tone. "Feed me and get me some free weights," I was tempted to write. And this frail young thing was meant to entice the rest of us into getting excited about spring fashion, of all things. Big mistake. Spring, after all, is supposed to be about life and motion, when "well-apparelled April on the limping heel of winter treads," as that Elizabethan fashion plate Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet. So, taking old Bill's advice, we at The Metropolitan decided to assemble a spring fashion section of our own, one that celebrates the more active, muscular pleasures of this most energetic of seasons. Rather than call in a posse of sullen models, we asked the acclaimed dancers of the Robert Henry Johnson group to wear the duds (all by San Francisco designers) selected to embody the season. Spring clothes are garments to prance, caper and cavort in, and who better to demonstrate this flexibility than a group of dancers so lithe and limber, the rest of us needed to visit chiropractors just from watching them? And as anyone who watched this bunch plow through a tableful of samosas, nan and other Indian delicacies can attest, these models came equipped with appetites that would make their mothers proud. Photographs by Franklin Avery Styled by Kimberly Kinard Models are members of the Robert Henry Johnson Dance Company Makeup by Ginger Kelly Where to find the clothes pictured here. To see a larger version of the picture, click on the photo. The number in parentheses indicates the approximate size (in kilobytes) of the photo. Long-sleeve navy-and-blue split shirt, with navy cargo pant, by Blue Marlin. Knit race vest in blue, with brown stripe and amber plaid pant, by Lat Naylor. Round ebony bangles and two-tone elastized bracelet, by Twiga. Models: Tomis McDonnell and Lakisha Austin. (50k) Black matte jersey gathered-neck halter, by Chaiken and Capone. Ebony wood bangles and antique Dogon glass beaded necklace with ebony, by Twiga. Model: Tarquin Gill-kehoe. (33k) Ivory club coat and trousers with olive rayon shirt, by Lat Naylor. Model: Robert Henry Johnson. (33k) Two-tone poly shirt in chartreuse and brown, by Lat Naylor. Poly brown pant with flat front, by Lat Naylor. (33k) Blue-and-green silk velvet dress, hand-dyed, by Danbury Stenderu. (50k) Ivory club coat and pants with olive, rayon shirt. Ivory vest over navy plaid button-down with rust work trouser, all by Lat Naylor. (33k) Ivory club coat over amber plaid camp shirt with navy flat pant, by Lat Naylor. Model: Tomis McDonnell. Navy-with-orange trim cotton/poly-jersey tank dress, by Blue Marlin. Model: Lakisha Austin. Beaded bracelet, by Twiga. (33k) Blue organza sheer dress over black charmeuse underslip, by Danbury Stenderu. (33k) Rust jersey sweater, by Lat Naylor. Black matte jersey gathered-neck halter and creme stretch twill pant with plain front, by Chaiken and Capone. Ebony wood with hand-dyed bone necklace, by Twiga. (33k) Ivory vest over navy plaid button-down, by Lat Naylor. Brown cotton rib tank top, by Blue Marlin. Ebony wood bangles, by Twiga. (33k) Silk chiffon shirt, by Lat Naylor; navy utility pant, by Blue Marlin. (50k) Espresso stretch-nylon plain front crop pant with matching halter top, by Chaiken & Capone. Ebony wood ring and elasticized bracelet, by Twiga. (33k) [ SF Metropolitan | MetroActive Central | Archives ]