With an Austen marathon on PBS and Pride and Prejudice in my college classroom, it’s all I can do not to think of Elizabeth and Darcy.
But there’s another Mr. Darcy who’s been creeping into my thoughts lately.
I first learned of D’Arcy Moses in the late 1980s, when I saw his work in Flare, Canada’s fashionable little sister to Chatelaine, the grand dame of Canadian fashion writing. A First Nations designer, this Mr. D’Arcy captured my imagination with a totem pole dress.
If memory serves, the dress was strapless, orange, and embellished like a traditional totem pole—it was thrilling, innovative, and absolutely beautiful. Some years ago Isaac Mizrahi did something similar, but D’Arcy Moses was the true original.
My Mr. D’Arcy left the fashion world of New York to return to Fort Simpson, where he worked with First Nations people to produce parkas, as well as other garments, and also created a fur collection.
He’s been honored by Canada’s Governor General and is a true national treasure. Apparently he’s now in Paris making a collection.
By the way, if any readers can locate an image of either totem pole dress, I’d love to see them—I haven’t had any luck with my online sleuthing.
But there’s another Mr. Darcy who’s been creeping into my thoughts lately.
I first learned of D’Arcy Moses in the late 1980s, when I saw his work in Flare, Canada’s fashionable little sister to Chatelaine, the grand dame of Canadian fashion writing. A First Nations designer, this Mr. D’Arcy captured my imagination with a totem pole dress.
If memory serves, the dress was strapless, orange, and embellished like a traditional totem pole—it was thrilling, innovative, and absolutely beautiful. Some years ago Isaac Mizrahi did something similar, but D’Arcy Moses was the true original.
My Mr. D’Arcy left the fashion world of New York to return to Fort Simpson, where he worked with First Nations people to produce parkas, as well as other garments, and also created a fur collection.
He’s been honored by Canada’s Governor General and is a true national treasure. Apparently he’s now in Paris making a collection.
By the way, if any readers can locate an image of either totem pole dress, I’d love to see them—I haven’t had any luck with my online sleuthing.
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