Marques ‘Almeida: A Defiant Journey in Fashion
M’A has gone through years of exploration and discovery of what it means to be an independent fashion brand in today’s landscape – never stopped launching collections and kept exploring fearlessly with each one what the language of this new iteration of M’A should be.
They’ve launched REM’ADE out of surplus materials, a social responsibility and environmental Manifesto, learned from artisans through M’AKERS, had models walk through suspended bridges over the mountains and over the ocean, published See-Through to enhance community and radical empathy, united the Porto young creative community and welcomed M’A Kids into their huge diverse family of people.
Marques ‘ Almeida has been busy, tirelessly challenging the expectations of the system by stubbornly surviving.
As they experience the growing pains of an evolving fashion brand, they don’t shy away from new exploration but rely on instinct, as always, to ground the new explorations into Marques ‘ Almeida’s indisputable defiant, genuine and raw identity.
The collection reflects new explorations of volume in heavy satin, structured shapes in outerwear, extreme, sometimes couture like, developments with frills and organza and classic M’A shapes in newer lustrous brocades.
In true M’A style, the casting for the show will be a celebration of a diverse genuine community, joining forces with friends and family who have grown with the M’A brand in a runway reunion. Throwback to the M’A AW16 collection where the brand first started casting friends for the runway, this tradition has grown to become the fundamental core for inspiration in the M’A collections. Stripping back the glamour and fantasy view of fashion and focusing on empowerment, energy and the individual personalities of these people and their growing families, the AW24 show will be an evolution on this, building an open minded, welcoming, and diverse cast.
There’s a clear conscious decision to welcome growth and aging and explore what that means for M’A – its message, its community and its product.
As it has done with a lot of other fashion industry’s harmful messages, M’A is ready to step forward in this new era challenging ageism and embracing and welcoming a new generation of M’A people, in couture organza tops or delicate lace dresses with tie dye boyfriend jeans or a biker jacket on top.
Biography
MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA was created in 2011 by Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida who combined talents while on the MA at Central Saint Martins – hitting the mark between impulse and consideration. While their aesthetic evokes raw effortlessness, the pair’s technical sensibilities are revealed in the construction of each piece.
They showed their first 2 seasons under Lulu Kennedy’s platform – Fashion East. In 2014 they were awarded NEWGEN sponsorship from the British Fashion Council/Topshop, showing for 5 seasons in London.
In May 2015 MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA were awarded a British Fashion Award for Best Emerging Designer and the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers.
In 2020 they launched their Social and Environmental Manifesto, committing to work in a more conscious way to drive change and added M’A Kids to the family, and come back to LFW in 2024 to present their AW24 collection.