Fashion: Win an Ozbek and an Apple

Roger Tredre
Thursday 14 January 1993 00:02 GMT
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RIFAT OZBEK, Britain's designer of the year, has a thing about mixing the old and the new. He calls it 'techno-tribal': combining traditional ethnic designs with thoroughly modern shapes, fabrics and accessories.

The beautiful people certainly love his melting-pot chic. Ozbek's clothes are worn by Diana Ross, Anjelica Huston, Elizabeth Taylor and the Princess of Wales.

Ozbek has drawn inspiration from Turkey, where he grew up before moving to Britain, but he has left few other corners of the globe untouched in recent years. His collections have included everything from Tibetan necklines and djellabah stitching to embroideries that give a modern twist to the traditional costumes of Africa, India and, most recently, Indonesia.

His 'Afrodizzia' collection for spring 1991 famously included African-style ear-rings made from compact discs. Not for nothing did a leading US fashion store executive once describe him as 'the designer who makes the old world the new world'.

Ozbek's cross-cultural inclinations represent a strong trend in contemporary fashion and culture. And his patchwork of images smartly reflects the multi- ethnic nature of modern Western society.

Now Apple Computer UK has come up with a spectacular techno-tribal prize for the Independent's new year fashion quiz. The prize is a Macintosh PowerBook 145 personal computer, which offers all the power of a desktop Macintosh in a lightweight, portable design with an easy-to-use graphical style of

operation.

The prize also includes a unique suede and leather case with bone applique and cast-iron handle specially designed by Rifat Ozbek for the Macintosh PowerBook.

The bone applique is a detail inspired by the traditional dress of American Indians; it first appeared on the catwalk in the designer's spring/summer '92 collection. Ozbek says: 'My view is an eclectic mix of ancient and modern - traditional native and western styling juxtaposed with modern city dressing.'

We also have 10 tickets for the runners-up to join international store buyers and journalists in London this March to see the autumn '93 catwalk show of Red or Dead, one of Britain's fastest- growing street fashion names, with a reputation for staging lively shows.

Send your answers to our 10 quiz questions to the Fashion Department, The Independent, 40 City Road, London EC1Y 2DB. Please print your name and address clearly, and include a daytime telephone number if possible. The closing date for entries is Thursday 28 January.

1) Which British fashion designer came up with the outfit pictured left?

2) Which photographer turned Madonna, for better or for worse, into a nude icon?

3) Who has revived a long-standing relationship with Chloe?

4) Which new British model has proved that you don't need to be tall to be a supermodel?

5) Who is the absolutely fabulous friend of Jennifer Saunders in a BBC comedy series about the fashion world?

6) Which queen of punk twice won the title of British designer of the year?

7) Which supermodel allegedly declared she wouldn't get out of bed for less than dollars 10,000?

8) Eric Clapton switched allegiance from Versace to which Italian designer?

9) Which French couturier was said to have been born with a nervous breakdown?

10) Apple Computer launched its Macintosh Computer in 1984. On which George Orwell novel did Apple base its Ridley Scott-directed TV commercial to mark the launch?

The winners will be the first correct entries to be drawn out of the hat. The judges' decision is final. The competition is not open to employees of Newspaper Publishing or the competition sponsors, or their relatives.

(Photograph omitted)

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