MARQUES’ALMEIDA
THE DENIM SPECIALISTS
“We were just so obsessed with the idea of a girl. [Every season] it
was about trying to find out how old she is and her attitude,” says
Marta Marques of the girl she and partner Paulo Almeida think of
when designing for their London-based label Marques’Almeida.
At a guess, she’s in her 20s, is anything but girlie, cites The
Face-era Corinne Day as inspiration and frequents London
streets in acid-bright slips or dark ripped denim. Denim,
for which Marques’Almeida became known after its Louise
Wilson-supported debut collection, was more a by-product of this
attitude. “It was more about the girl than the jeans or the jacket.”
(Although their jeans and jackets in oversized boxy shapes could
clothe girl or boy.) “There’s really no rule and it’s not something we
deliberately think of,” says Marques of who they orient their realist
street-ready pieces to, though they’re still zeroing in on their
woman. “Every season, we think: ‘The girl! The girl!’” Alice BirrellVETEMENTS
THE CONCEPTUALISTS
“An alternative context.” That’s how head designer
Demna Gvasalia sees young Parisian label and
LVMH prize finalist Vetements fitting in the fashion
landscape. In real terms, this means clothing that
is primarily designed by the Margiela alumnus to
wear, with less focus on runway and trends. “We
are not interested in trends. They’re there to dictate
a direction and make everyone look the same.” So he
creates oversized bombers, biker jackets and trenches
that are not dictated by gender codes, either – they’re
all in a stolen-from-a-boy style. There are sleeves
so long they flop past models’ hands, men’s slacks,
slouchy jeans and sweatpants that are being worn “on
the streets, in clubs, in galleries, in stores, at dinners
and after-hours”. And why the masculine slant? “We
don’t try to make an androgynous product, but our
womenswear is largely inspired by menswear, because
it’s complex and interesting in its construction.”
An appealing alternative indeed. ABMixed
market
In the space between gender-oriented
codes OF DRESS is a generation of
designers HAPPILY flourishing.MATTHEW KRISTALL TUNG WALSHALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS LAST PAGESMARQUES’ALMEIDA S/S ’15Paulo Almeida
(left) and
Marta Marques.Vetements
sweater, $1,040. Vetements
jacket, $1,740.78 – MAY 2015in VOGUE