A Little Bit Punk for Marques'Almeida at London Fashion Week SS17


Before we get into talking about all things Marques'Almeida, which I'm incredibly excited to talk about by the way, and ok, I realise that I'm like eight days late and London Fashion Week is over. Anyway, I've decided to expand my horizons and discuss every fashion show that interests me, men or women's. I've been thinking about my blog lately, my reasons for having a blog, the content I want to put out there and the fact I haven't posted for about three months, it got me thinking that I don't want my blog to be restrained by only discussing the latest men's fashions. When I design, I always try and begin with a genderless approach and I thought, why not the same for my blog? Lately, I have myself realised that it's not only men's fashion that I enjoy looking at, researching, obsessing over, being inspired by, but some womenswear brands to, so from this moment forward, I will now be discussing womenswear. beginning with my highlight from London, Portuguese design-duo, Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida.

Forever fascinated by the Nineties, The Face, grunge, Corinne Day shoots,  Marques'Almeida have quite successfully so far for that matter built a brand on their affection for the specific decade. However, it's important to remember, that they're not just simply reproducing items we're all familiar with, that nothing they design was part of or seen in the nineties. It's more the spirit as oppose to the aesthetic they have said in past interviews. What they do is completely believable, genuine, authentic. That's one of the many factors for their relatively quick rise to success, that and them focusing just as much attention on this sense of community and belonging as it is the clothes, just check out their "M'A" girl of the season, their social media following and studio wall full of #howdoyouwearyourMA photographs and imagery. Their family, close friends and cute, twenty-something babyfaced girls who walk in their shows, it gives their collections some reality, they seem to hit home and fit into almost anybody's wardrobe.

Marques'Almeida have come a long way though, since establishing their namesake label. Denim is a signature for them, and I imagine it always will be. Their graduate collection from the Central Saint Martins MA heavily featured torn and frayed denim, and although the duo are obsessed with denim, as it brings their collections back down to earth, their fabric development has moved on significantly. Their collections are brave, modern, yet their girl is a sucker for nostalgia. The Marques'Almeida girl is one who isn't afraid to dress up now, she has a serious attitude and this season was even a little bit punk.

  "It's weird how we start with these random ideas of collages of vintage negliges with vintage basketball t-shirts and tulle sleeve hanging on our wall and then punk-ish references and then baroque and then skaters but it's only when you see one of the girls wearing it that it makes sense. Is it that thing of every girl being all these things in a way."

It's not too often you find designers designing for real, existing girls, not an imagined fantasy of someone - that's why I for one really love what Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida do. It's refreshing to see their designs exist off of the runway and in real life, their price points are also rather reasonable considering it still is high-end fashion. This season seen a development on from last season's oversized, top-heavy looks. From the leg-o-mutton sleeves and the richly embroidered brocades and denim bell sleeves to the dramatically exaggerated wide-striped shirts were sure to back that up. That punk/grunge vibe came via. precisely and purposefully torn slip dresses and lace trimmings, often in pastel tones. It's no secret that Marques'Almeida's take on denim has been copied everywhere from the high-street to other fellow designers, but it's also probably a perfect time to mention that M'A isn't a denim brand, as you may already now be aware - they just excel at using the humdrum fabric. This season, as expected, denim was again excellent and artfully disheveled. Jeans were updated: a skater style, flared and cinched just above the ankle, again creating this exaggerated shape. Almost certain to be appearing in every high-street shop next season.






















Images courtesy of 10Magazine and Vogue Runway

The Wolf of High Street
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