RÚBEN DAMÁSIO | FW 16/17

Inspired in the “Rumspringa”, which means “wander around”, this collection portrays the time when young Amish, aged 16-21, break away from the community. This is usually the time when youngsters move to a bigger city where they try to explore new sensations. Portrayed in the reality television series “Breaking Amish”, this is a controversial topic both inside and outside the community. Those experiences in a daring, urban and modern environment add more knowledge and new values, which are represented in the collection by bold colors, such as yellow and blue. On the other hand, their past is represented by colors (black, grey and beige) that evoke a dry, dark scenario evidenced in their costumes. The collection uses mostly natural fibers, such as cotton, wool and cashmere.

TÂNIA NICOLE | FW 16/17

The starting point of this collection was the work of the British artist Alex Chinneck who specializes in architectural installations featuring optical illusions. His main projects include a row of upside-down shops in London and a house of wax bricks that will slowly melt over the course of a summer. The architectural side of the Chinneck’s projects refers us to a workwear look associated to the work on the construction industry and influence the silhouettes and the details of the entire collection by using garments like overalls and upside-down jeans. The melt process associated with the wax house project is transmitted through the use of multiple denim tones simulating a gradient effect.

CAROLINA MACHADO | FW 16/17

“Open” arises from the attempt and exploration of an identity. The definition of self-being, it’s authenticity, the several elements, events and changes that influence directly or indirectly it’s personification, resulting in a more intuitive act. In this sense, the collection conveys a certain softness and femininity, still influenced by some details and masculine lines. Allied to this ideal, is a surrealist, psychedelic and sensory work by the director René Laloux: “La Planète Sauvage”, 1973. “Open” explores the silhouette of 70’s, as well as the changing shapes of the characters called “Draggs”, an extraterrestrial race with red-eyes and blue skin. The application of eyelets in the collection “manifests” the importance of clarity and transparency of self being, assuming a fundamental importance in the collection. Chromatically, the collection explores the various shades throughout the film: a palette of earthy colors: oranges, burgundies and also a range of deep blues and black.

DAVID FERREIRA | FW 16/17

“Opulent Child” is a collection that is a reflection on today’s society – an overindulgent Society where image and the perception of such defines who we are. David Ferreira AW16/17 is the wardrobe of an imaginary clique that despite having its roots in the mainstream references, Pink Ladies, Heathers, Clueless, Plastics, Gossip Girl, Scream Queens, it lays in a more extravagant and opulent look that touches points with the royal clique of Versailles, Queen Marie Antoinette and duchess of Polignac, and personalities such as Marchesa Luisa Casati and Scarlett O’Hara from “Gone with the Wind”. Creating a Couture clique that primes for glamour, beauty, extravagance and luxury. The colour palette plays with different shades of pink and red on white, creating a strong yet simple game of colors. Wool Melton is beaded, boned and conjugated with rabbit skin and brushed Tibetan lambskin to play with volume of the pieces exploring new silhouettes. This volume is also present in the different uses of the tulle as trims and ruffles. Double-faced silk satin is folded and stitched, creating a strong visual and texture effect in the collection. This collection creates a David Ferreira clique that emphasis the blurry lines between Fashion and Art, with a passion for couture.

MORECCO | FW 16/17

This collection is a a celebration of colours, textures and materials, building upon the work and know how gained over the past years. Voyages through Turkey, Morocco and Korean cinema, were all part of the creative process behind this season, with details of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul and layers of the jackets of the Korean royal court all present, amongst many others ideas, to the sound of the ever present glamour of the nightclubs in New York and Paris in the 70s. Craftsmanship, always a compulsion in the brands work, has been further explored and developed, with hand stitched embroidery, traditional artistry and manufacture used wherever possible. This collection also features re used antique Chinese and Japanese fabric panels, the fringing and silks evoking the unabashed hedonism of the nightclub.

PATRICK DE PÁDUA | FW 16/17

“On the Hunt” isn’t only a reference to the hunting universe but also the constant search of the individuals for something that completes them. The collection explores this search for a feeling of personal realization, satisfaction and comfort in their own skin. The most relevant piece is the trench coat, keeping the idea that clothes are a shelter that provide us protection. This is a streetwear collection, with inspiration from the hunting experience, presenting traditional materials such as burel, leather, fur and impermeable.

BANDA | FW 16/17

Discovering Brazil and never having been there. Devouring daily, all these years, arts, culture, TV, cuisine, History. This intimate relationship can be explained by the strong links that remain between Portugal and its former colony, that led to this personal construction of Brazil developed by a young Portuguese man and ex-colonizers descendant. The Brazilian Modernist movement represents the first attempt to build a cultural and aesthetic identity for the country. Oswald de Andrade, for instance, recovers the anthropophagy, the rite of cannibalism practiced by the Brazilian indigenous tribes expressed in his Manifesto Antropófago (1928). The interior/exterior ambiguous relationship of Lina Bo Bardi’s architectural work, as well as the contemporary Mendes da Rocha’s dazzling strongholds through a more subversive space usage, becomes the inspiration to the collection’s silhouettes.

Photo: Rui Vasco