As an admirer of the work produced over the years by Brazilian fashion designer Alexandre Herchcovitch, I very much looked forward to the runway show that unveiled the Spring/Summer 2014 womenswear collection for his eponymous label during my recent visit to São Paulo Fashion Week. I was thrilled to witness an outstanding collection that confirmed Herchcovitch as a skilful designer whose highly structural garments reveal a dexterous and rigorous command of cutting and sewing techniques used in order to give material shapes to underpinning creative concepts.
In an interesting twist, Herchcovitch found inspiration for his Spring/Summer 2014 collection in his own Spring/Summer 1998 designs, namely the layering of bandages on the models’ bodies to construct garments. However, it was noticeable that such processes had undergone a great deal of maturity and refinement by the time Herchcovitch decided to incorporate them into his latest fashion range, as the erstwhile physical layers and shapes of the bandages were metaphorically reinterpreted to create elaborate and sophisticated pinstripe patterns and zebra prints.
The collection (with 31 looks, 24 of which exclusively in black and white, with the remaining 7 in a luxurious shade of purple) featured noble fabrics such as leather, lace, crepe de chine and satin duchesse, and a striking zebra pattern made by minuscule white beads embroidered one by one to an underlay made from black leather. Furthermore, Herchcovitch highlighted the natural curves of the female body beautifully by resorting to skilled sewing methods to create flattering flowing and cocoon-like shapes in ruffles, sleeves or in the asymmetric hem lines of skirts and dresses.