Tamara and Natasha Surguladze are the Central St Martins graduates that make the dynamic design team that is Tata-Naka. The duo, known for their ‘in house prints’ created from their own art and photography, describe the Tata-Naka woman as ‘adventurous with a great sense of humour’. In order to wear the brand’s A/W 12 collection she certainly has to be that..
The moment I entered the world of Tata-Naka, walls draped in fabric printed with bold tribal patterns, an oversized pinocolada was thrust into my hand while old-school Motown blasted out on the sound system. I felt like I was on holiday - jetting off on Tata-Naka airways to some luxurious exotic location!
Motown and Malawian tribes were the inspirations for the A/W 12 collection. The gorgeous models had big, bold afros while sporting brightly coloured tribal patterned silk shift dresses, that fell lightly to the knee as their pointed gem encrusted creeper shoes tapped to the beats of classics such as The Temptations’ ‘My Girl’. Thick black, lines drew the patterns while dusty pink and blue along with lemon yellow posed as the backdrop. Even lanky giraffes formed part of the intricate yet bold patterning.
On the more subtle side of things there was a beautiful tri of muted tone dresses with pleated skirts which gave of a gorgeously feminine vibe accompanied with clever cut outs across the chest and above the hemlines. The cut outs were filled with delicate mesh which kept to angular shapes of the tribal patterns. The subdued teal green that has been seen in many shows made an appearance and the cute lilac colour made the jump from S/S to A/W.
It could not have been doubted a fully-fledged A/W collection if there hadn’t been some sort or girlish sparkle, so of course it was there. A modern and western twist on a classic beaded tribal necklaces made for the perfect accessories for the collection.
Over all in my eyes the collection was a complete success, the quirky combo between Motown and tribal ethnicity seemed odd at first but it became completely and utterly charming. The pinocolada that was thrust into my hand as soon as I walked in the door along with Motown music blearing out made the entire experience an absolute winner.
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