Runway Fashion Photos, Anand Jon Fall 1999 Collection Photos, Anand Jon Fashion Photography, Anand Jon Fashion Designs, Asian Fashion Designers, New York Fashion Shows Photos, Photos by Andres Aquino, Syndicated Fashion Features

ANAND JON Runway Fashion Photos

Fall 1999 New York Fashion Collection

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Indian-born Anand Jon's Fall 1999 collection is entitled "Arcane" and is inspired by the designer's quest for secret, sacred knowledge. "I meditate every night and when I wake up, I check my e-mail every morning", says Anand Jon.

Luxury is an inherent trademark of Anand Jon's clothing and jewelry, his first area of design after moving to New York City from southern India. Full flared skirts with fine embroidered detailing run through the collection. Select icons of the arcane arts were translated into fabric prints and trimmed with metallic drawstrings. The long brightly colored shimmery skirts are usually worn with simple tops or leotards giving the eye-catching skirts full focus. Worn with plain black tops are a bottle green and black silk skirt, a pink and silver brocade skirt, an olive gold tissue skirt and a red dispersed embroidered skirt. Other flamboyant skirt designs include a coral blue hand embroidered low-waist pleated skirt, an emerald green silk pleated skirt, a matte gold and charcoal woven skirt, and the finale of the collection, a white tissue layered and pleated skirt with gold embroidery which is worn with a 22 karat gold head piece embedded with rubies and pearls.

The overall visual vibration of the collection is set by the intense contrast in the color palette -- deep purples, wild scarlets, raven blacks with matte gold accents -- while continuing to refine the designer's signature silhouettes, detailing and textures. The fabric spectrum ventures into rich velvets, satins and raw silks. The ancient Indian technique of weaving gold-dipped threads into silks is a personal passion of Anand Jon. He feels it sensuously links flesh with metal fabrics. A long deep purple silk coat is worn over a black velvet dress, a wine and gold silk sari is matched with a black raw silk sarong pant and top, a speckled velvet shirt tops a black velvet sarong pant. Many Indian design elements come into play in this collection including saris, sarongs, evening pajamas and nehru jackets.

Anand Jon's one-of-a-kind jewelry is now being co-designed by his sister, Sanjana. A new line of diamonds and platinum with Victorian influences is being introduced. While most of the jewelry continues to revolve around Jon's heritage -- emphasizing gold with uncut diamonds, emeralds and rubies -- some of the motifs used are part of a metaphysical series, revealing the designer's tantric roots and influences. The rhythms of rapture emanated by voodoo, blended with the alchemy of the goddess Kali, ceremonial drumbeats and chants, are all essential to what the designer terms "the mood of arcane". An early spectator to the development of Anand Jon's Fall 1999 collection remarked, "Voodoo? Tantra? Kali? Why don't you pick something positive?... why choose such negative energy themes for inspiration?" Jon replied, "Energy, in any form -- atomic, genetic, artistic -- is neither positive nor negative. It's what we choose to use it for that makes it so."

Influenced by the metaphysical demands of yoga, which deeply affects his designs, Anand Jon's clothes reflect a "unique balance of commerce and art."

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