admin Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida were in a ’70s kind of mood for spring. This was a holdover from their resort collection which had at its root the cover of David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World record—only here they switched gears and headed to Brazil. “We were listening to Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso and all those people—you know it was a scene in Brazil and there’s a sense of liberation and experimentation,” Marques explained on a recent Zoom call. “But specifically we were looking at how women in that scene were breaking boundaries; there was no fear, it was all big shapes, and big colors.” Then, because they associate Brazil with nature, they ended up mixing that explosive performative energy with the ocean and the beach, which led to… sea creatures. Specifically the creatures of the deep ocean, who glow with the brightest colors against the pitch-black darkness of their surroundings. “Everything was a jellyfish for us at some point,” she added.
A close-up image of a sea slug became a groovy tie-dye-esque print of bright orange and magenta against a lavender background, and a strapless ruffled asymmetric top in orange recycled silk mikado had the elegance of a black tie gown, but was paired with acid-wash wide-leg jeans in a matching orange hue. Asymmetrical bustier tops in light blue or butter yellow denim were dyed with burgundy splotches that brought to mind ink left behind by octopuses escaping from predators (but glamorously). Elsewhere there were light-as-air open-weave mohair knits and denim separates with delicate chiffon insets that once again evoked a feeling of movement, while a series of loose tailoring in softly wrinkled cotton was meant to evoke some of “the slinkiness” of the suits favored onstage by Bethânia way back when. It was a loose and elongated silhouette that certainly captured a carefree energy that can only come from living in the tropics.
