And One More Designer Collaboration: Rifat Ozbek for Mavi Jeans

We have been remiss over here at The Shophound. As we try to keep track of the ever proliferating designer collaboration collections, one or two are bound to slip through the cracks. What with Uniqlo, Gap, H&M, Target etc. we somehow missed Rifat Ozbek's line for Mavi jeans. Of course, we heard something about it in January, but for some reason it didn't register quite as strongly as some of the others, so we were only reminded when we walked past the Mavi store on Broadway a few days ago. You can't really blame us, as Ozbek hasn't really been much in the spotlight since the mid '90s when his exotically inspired collections spiced up the London fashion scene. A few years ago he returned to the runways designing a new ready-to-wear collection for the Italian leather firm Pollini which, as far as we can tell, is not available in NorthAmerica. For this project, the Istanbul born designer went back to his roots to work with the Turkish based company, and came out with a navy and white capsule collection of dark denim and jersey separates with his signature sparkly embellishments and embroideries for a Mediterranean party feeling. While the prices are about 30 to 40 percent more than Mavi's typical entry level premium denim price points (meaning more than Levi's, less than Citizens of Humanity), they are still much less than Ozbek's usual designer-level offerings which should please Ozbek fans...if there are any left.
Mavi 832 Broadway, Union Square