Marques'Almeida debut show post LVMH prize

London - London Fashion Week saw Marques'Almeida, the 2015 recipient of the prestigious LVMH prize, keep their collection small and focused, despite a windfall of 300,000 euros.

Their Spring Summer 2016 collection was inspired by an image photographed by their fit model Alice of her childhood friend, an eclectic dresser who according to Almeida “would wear a wedding gown one day and then jeans on another.” For the designers the image represented a kind of youthful excitement and uncertainty that is the antithesis of overt brand building.

The clothes, of course, are what matter, and panel judges at LVMH know how to spot talent when they see it. The Portuguese duo already have a signature, in the form of raw hems, and a sense of the messy and undone. Their proposition of deconstructed glamour that was introduced last season was worn by many of the fashion crowd in attendance of their show and first hand evidence that they have created something interesting.

For spring there were frills and ruffles and diaphanous chiffon gowns, toughened with jackets and a grunge aesthetic. The models may have had punk hair and darkened eyes, but stripped of this the clothes feel accessible and wearable.

According to Vogue, founders Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida are realists, they are carefully growing their brand by simply reproducing their most-liked shapes (jeans, oversize biker jackets, halters) in different fabrics. Of course it doesn't help that they come from a lineage of manufacturers in their home country. Emerging designers should be so lucky to have access to secure production facilities, but then again luck seems to be on their side.