Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida tapped into the exotic glamour of Frida Kahlo and the all-out opulence of Christian Lacroix for their joyfully eccentric collection. The first in a trio of scarlet looks that opened the show — an off-kilter fur coat with an organza top and a denim skirt with an unfinished hem — underscored their optimistic mood.
Once again playing with Nineties grunge, the duo sent out a short, pale blue denim dress cut with tricky knotted panels that gave the effect of a jacket tied around the waist. It was worn with a matching jean jacket and silver flats, and managed to look both effortless and interesting. It’s not easy to make jeans look fresh, but theirs — with twisted side seams that gaped open — succeeded.
They balanced all that insouciance with the glamour of glitzy, metallic buccaneer boots and raw-edged, gold-infused, all-brocade eveningwear looks in a riot of color, as in a chartreuse top hemmed in swathes of fuchsia. It was worn with narrow, purple floral trousers, again with open diagonal seams that exposed the leg.