Party Fish

Piscatorial couturier Franciscus Valentijn debuted his garish new season collection at the 1726 Nieuw Oost Indien show.

"Colour is the new scale for the smart fish set", said the beaming Valentijn. "Demure is dead. Stripes, high contrast and bold tints are where it's at."

Citing Louis Renard as an influence, Valentijn said his background as evangelist and cartographer for the Dutch East India Company gave him an opportunity to view the East Asian fashion scene first hand.

"These fish from Indonesia and Ceylon are not shy. They aren't restricted by the narrow palette of their conservative European cousins. They are colour experimentalists. I'm just trying to bring this sense of joy and vivacity to life. My collection is for the party fish inside all of us."

Indeed. We're hooked!