Karl Temper’s debut at Ports 1961

London Fashion Week Day 2 started with a bang as Ports 1961 set their newly re-launched and re-designed brand with a fantastic show at Tate Modern. The brand, renown for its minimalistic heritage has now been rebranded, from logo to collection, under the watchful eye of newly appointed artistic director Karl Temper. Breaking away from its previous minimalistic codes, Temper introduced us to a bold, maximalist collection. Tribal prints with slight nods to Matisse, covered pleated dresses, skirts and trousers, whilst triple-stitched trouser suits were presented in a varied palette of baby blue, terracotta and mustard, an interesting power alternative to the usual day-to-day workwear. Standout looks included a cue to a budding trend to come as a very cool mix of zebra and cow print covered a series of coats, trousers, a knitted two-piece set and a silky dress. Chinoiserie floral patterns covered silk panels on coats and shirts, adding a touch of etherealness and femininity. Chunky jewellery and bi-colour studded sandals accentuated the overall eccentric art-mom vibe of the collection. Definitely a great start for a first-time stylist turned designer. 

The power of community at Marques Almeida

Images by Tom Warabida

Multiple screens welcomed the guests at the Marques Almeida show. “If you had a daughter, what would you want her to know?” This was one of the questions posed by the designers to the M’A girls, the diverse group of young women featured in the video installations screened before the show started. “If I had a daughter I would want her to know that it’s ok to be who you are and to be super unapologetic about it,” said one of the girls. And indeed it was this empowering message that inspired the collection and wants to push the designers to create a strong community which aims at inspiring the youth. This season, the designer duo was inspired by a mix of rebellious icons, from slightly 50s freakish Hollywood actor shots to Riot Grrl zines and Bikini Kill. This duality of sensitivity, femininity and toughness was evident as different materials and colours were contrasted throughout the collection. Floral printed tight tops were styled with oversized denim frayed trousers, whilst oversized taffeta dresses in pink, acid green and blue were styled with a series of bold accessories, either tough or feminine, ranging from latex gloves to feathery kitten-heeled shoes. 

Fashion as an indulgence at Toga

Images by Tom Warabida

Set at London’s iconic Royal Institute of British Architects, the Toga show was a play of artistic temperaments. Every season, Yasuko Furuta, the designer behind Toga, defines her collection in three words, and this season these three words were “wrapping, re-development and efficiency,” words which she said connoted an ambience of not prioritising productivity in a world that does. Yet, how do you do that in this world which seems to be moving at an ever-changing and faster pace way of living? Slow down and indulge in the unnecessary details. This was the overall message conveyed by the collection as a range of romantic details accentuated the looks: big vinyl flower brooches accessorised perfectly tailored business suits, whilst urban items such as the now-very-popular bike shorts were updated in bold floral brocades. Beach sandals were re-interpreted for the city and paired with long, flowing formal dresses, whilst highlights of the collection were for sure the bold overcoats which gave an edge to the more minimal looks. 

60s psychedelia at Rixo

It seems like this season 16Arlington wasn’t the only brand who took inspiration from the 60s and its free, fun, atmosphere. Rixo, the British brand famous for its printed silk dresses and midi skirts popularised by Instagram’s it girl community, staged its SS20 presentation in a relaxed garden where models of all ages lounged on the grass, blowing bubbles and dancing around to a rock and roll soundtrack. Taking inspiration from Joni Mitchell’s style and featuring her vocals as the soundtrack to the presentation, the collection featured soft sixties silhouettes, psychedelic prints and florals featured on maxi dresses and mini dresses, and silky feel good flares perfect from morning to night. 

The collection will also be available to buy the moment it debuts at the Rixo store at 94 Kings Road. 

Tags: london fashion week, Marques Almeida, ports 1961, rixo, ss20, Toga

Design duo Marques’Almedia’s catwalk presentations are always a highlight on our London Fashion Week schedule, and this season was no different. Twin photographer Sophia Aerts captured the show and all its glorious details.

marquesalmeida.com

Tags: AW15, LFW, Marques Almeida, Sophia Aerts

Last night over 2000 people gathered to celebrate the successes of the fashion industry in 2014, with guests such as Samantha Cameron, Anna Wintour OBE, Valentino Garavani, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Lewis Hamilton, Lana del Rey and Courtney Love.

Many of Twin‘s favourite designers and brands walked away with awards, including Marques’Almeida who were recognised as Emerging Womenswear Designer of The Year. Other winners on the night were Prism – Emerging Accessory Designer, Nicolas Ghesquière – International Designer, Simone Rocha – New Establishment, Victoria Beckham – Brand and Cara Delevingne – Model of the Year, unsurprisingly.

For the full list of winners head to britishfashionawards.com

Tags: 2014, British Fashion Awards, Cara Delevingne, Marques Almeida, Prism, simone rocha, Victoria Beckham

When Portuguese designers, Paulo Almeida and Marta Marques joined forces to create their collaborative womenswear label, Marques’Almeida in 2011, the result was electric: deconstructed acid wash denim with a Nineties youth code aesthetic composed a collection which was undoubtedly the utmost inventive use of denim the fashion world had seen in a long while.

Now, 18 months and four collections later, Marta and Paulo are still redefining the boundaries of denim-ware design whilst effectively introducing other fabrics along the way: Most recently for S/S ‘13 the pair presented us with traces of light weight cottons and linens which too were given the label’s signature fabric-distressing treatment.

Following a successful showcase at London Fashion Week in September (their first season as celebrated NewGen winners), Twin caught up with the design-duo to find out more…

Your work is inspired by Nineties youth culture – what is so special about this era for you?
We have been obsessed with it since we started our MA when we began exploring youth code dressing and what it means. We’ve been drawn to teenagers and how they dress with a particular focus on the late Nineties and early Noughties. It’s a very instinctive way of researching as we were growing up as teenagers ourselves during that period so we’ve been looking back to all of our own personal references, which hopefully makes it really authentic and really fun too!

Why did you initially decide to focus on denim as the foundation of your label’s signature?
It stemmed from our initial exploration into young sub-cultural style. We researched all we could and there were always a couple common elements – denim and t-shirts. We couldn’t run away from it.

If your design aesthetic were a song what would it sound like?
‘Drinking in LA’ by Bran van 3000 or Fiona Apple’s ‘Fast As You Can’

Who are your heroes?
Rei Kawakubo and Helmut Lang

How does working as duo affect the creative process?
It’s hard and insanely fun at the same time! It’s hard because there’s really no compromise as neither of us are really capable of that, so there’s a lot of back and forth and lots of discussions about things, but then there are really instinctive moments where we’re both on the same page and don’t need to say a word! It’s so much more fun than doing it alone and it is also what we think makes our product really new; it’s the combination of two really different uncompromising aesthetics into one strong point of view.

You have worked closely with Opening Ceremony in the past – are there any other exciting collaborations coming up in the near future?
There might be… 🙂 Let’s hope so – we love collaborations!

marquesalmeida.com

Tags: Marques Almeida, opening ceremony