Prague's Wenceslas Square stages first fashion show

PRAGUE, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Prague's Wenceslas Square, scene of some of the turning points in the country's history, for the first time hosted a fashion show on Thursday, September 20th evening with the presentation of Osmany Laffita's Summer 2008 collection.

The 40-something Cuban-born fashion designer, who has lived here since he was 22, told AFP he enjoyed surprising his guests with the concept of each collection in the Czech capital, "a city where there are so many incredible locations."

For previous shows, Laffita has taken his models to Prague's art-deco central railway station and the chandelier-adorned Baroque Clam-Gallas place.

This time, he has set up his catwalk "under the attentive eyes of the patron saint of the Czech Republic," Saint Wenceslas, whose statue dominates the square lined by impressive art-deco buildings in the heart of Prague.

His latest collection was inspired by a recent trip in Asia, with ultra-short kimonos and romantic cheongsams in fine silks in pastel shades.

The square, a lively tourist hot-spot all round-the-clock, has been the focus of much of the turbulence during the last century, including the wave of mass demonstrations that led to the toppling of the communist regime in 1989.

"During the Revolution, when everybody marched and demonstrated and were shaking their keys in the air, I was on holiday in the Tatra mountains," he admitted before the show.