Pt.5 Marques’Almeida
On May 22nd, LVMH will announce the winner of their 2015 Young Fashion Designer Prize from a pool of 8 finalists – Arthur Arbesser, Coperni, Craig Green, Faustine Steinmetz, Jacquemus, Marques’Almeida, Off-White, and Vetements. Started in 2013, the prize was launched to champion standout talent and foster their labels. Winning means getting a seal of approval from a jury of fashion’s foremost designers and industry professionals like Nicolas Ghesquiere, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, and LVMH’s own Delphine Arnault. Aside from being recognized by the industry, the winner receives a 300,000 euro grant and a year’s worth of expert support from the foundation. Of course, success in the industry for these designers isn’t reliant on winning, but it certainly sets the stage.
Presenting Models.com’s exclusive week-long spotlight on each of the designers in anticipation of their final presentation at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the announcement of the winner on May 22nd.
The LVMH 8
Photography: Steven Yatsko for Models.com
Stylist: William Graper @ The Wall Group
Art Direction: Stephan Moskovic
Hair: Takayoshi Tsukisawa
Makeup: Kim Weber
Production: Jazmin Alvarez
Photo assistant: Jason Acton
Manicurist: Natalie Pavloski @ LMC Worldwide
Portrait courtesy of the designer
Text by Irene Ojo-Felix
Models:
Grace Simmons / Next New York
Mona Matsuoka / IMG
There is beauty in the undone and design team Paulo Almeida and Marta Marques have built their business on the design aesthetic of threadbare pieces. Previously known to apply this technique to denim, this season Marques’Almeida decided to push their comfort level and work with new materials like silk, chiffon, and leather. The result was a collection that was all about “dark black heavy silhouettes and patchwork multicolor, flowy shapes.” Denim is such a formidable fabric as it rarely gives unless materials like Lycra are weaved into it. Marques and Almeida have overcome this hurdle by “working with it in a way that feels lived in and not off the roll.” That focus gives the effect of sensual fluidity for their edgy woman.
They both acclaim London as being the crux of their business. Both studied at Central Saint Martins and began their label right after graduating saying the city “informs the way we work and what we do.” The MA program at the accredited school “was a process of finding what we wanted to say and we were lucky enough to be pushed out and beyond our limits by the course team and the incredible (late) Professor Louise Wilson…having access to the incredible library…helped form our visual background.” The daring, youthful energy of London definitely comes out in their undone designs that focus on blending the masculine and feminine elements that the designers themselves exude.
With the prize money, the duo plan on “growing the team and doing more things we haven’t had the funding or the time to do! We have an incredibly dedicated team but the brand is growing quickly and we’re all overworked so we definitely need more hands on deck and we’d invest in doing more things, grow the range on offer, do special projects we have a strong passion for.”
great