Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was her own best model.
A small yet flamboyant woman, she wore colorful prints, shawls and bold jewelry with verve and pride that she so surrealistically translated to canvas during a span of almost 30 years.
Her classic Mexican costumes, accessories and braided hairstyles are a dramatic backdrop to the movie “Frida,” starring Salma Hayek as the painter and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera, Kahlo’s legendary husband who painted murals of social revolution.
More than a half century later, many of Kahlo’s clothing items and hair ornaments, which she wore with her own sense of style, have become chic once again–with the exception of her signature unibrow and unbleached upper lip fuzz, facial touches that most try to avoid.
David Wolfe, a trend analyst with the Doneger Group in New York, thinks the Kahlo look will be a tremendous influence on fashion, especially the accessories.
“The trend is already here,” he said. “You can take last year’s peasant blouse and skirt and spin it toward Frida Kahlo. It will now have personality and sex appeal.”
Wolfe also pointed out that the rapid growth of the Latino population in the United States calls for more links to high fashion. “She is the person to do it,” he said of Kahlo.
Other Frida-inspired fashions available in stores include tiers of soft ruffles and tucks on blouses, long skirts in crepe and velvet, delicate lace and openwork trims, embroidered floral designs, shoes with colorful floral patterns and shawls of every description. The look especially lends itself to evening wear for the holidays ahead.
“The Frida look advances individuality,” said Jeff Prine, fashion director of Lustre magazine, a New York jewelry trade publication.
“She wasn’t afraid to eschew the fashion looks of her day. For fashionable women today, this trend frees them from the dictates of big-name designers and allows them to express their inner Fridas.”
Now playing
“Frida,” rated R, has style and star appeal. The cast includes:
– Salma Hayek
– Geoffrey Rush
– Edward Norton
– Ashley Judd
– Antonio Banderas
