Portuguese duo Marques’Almeida returned today to the official calendar of London Fashion Week where they presented their fall/winter collection, after an absence forced by the covid-19 pandemic, in which they returned in Portugal.
Although the brand maintains references to the “grunge” style of the 1990s and the denim that distinguished it at the start of its career, today’s show featured colorful dresses and ensembles using satin and lace.
“It was a very planned collection with this return to London in mind,” said Marta Marques to Lusa, who spoke of “four atypical years” due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Marques’Almeida, created by Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida, was officially launched in 2011 and has been a constant presence at London Fashion Week since the beginning.
In 2020, the covid-19 pandemic forced London Fashion Week to switch to a virtual model, in which Portuguese designers participated in video and digital form.
During this period, Marques and Almeida, who had already started a family together, returned to Portugal “without planning to”.
“It ended up working very well. If we had stayed in London, we would have been sitting on our hands, unable to move. In Portugal we were able to work very closely with our suppliers and help them keep their doors open – and them us,” said Marques.
During the most critical period, they designed collections based on fabrics that the factories had in stock and started other projects, such as a children’s clothing line and a collection of traditional techniques, such as tapestry, with the aim of integrating them into fashion.
At the moment, the creative, e-commerce and marketing departments are in Portugal, where they already had all the production, while the logistics, sales and finance departments are in London.
The British capital is also home to a sales agency that runs Marques’Almeida showrooms four times a year in New York and Paris.
“For personal reasons, with young daughters, it was much more difficult to move around. Before, we had our base here and went to Portugal every two or three months, now we have our base in Portugal and come back here for a few months,” explained Marta Marques.
In recent years they have strengthened their ties with the country, taking part in the Portugal Fashion shows, and in 2023 they partnered with cosmetics brand Boticário to dress actress Sara Matos for the Golden Globes ceremony.
“While we were in Portugal, we grew our family, but we also met fabulous and inspiring people and managed to forge partnerships that allowed us to come back here, as was the case with Boticário, which helped us a lot,” said Paulo Almeida.
After four “atypical” years, returning to London Fashion Week was almost like “coming home”, he admitted.
“As soon as we started talking about coming back, they opened their doors to us completely. We have a very strong network and community here that supports us,” said Marta Marques.
London Fashion Week, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, began on Friday and closes on Tuesday.
