For her Spring/Summer 2014 womenswear collection, Brazilian fashion designer Andrea Marques attempted to reinterpret minimalist fashion by imbuing her garments with demure geometric and floral prints on flowing, sensual fabrics. The result, unveiled in the form of 25 carefully edited looks that took to the runway during the most recent edition of Fashion Rio, was a discreetly feminine collection comprising shorts, jackets, trousers, tops and an array of dresses made from heavy cotton, crepe, silk, zibeline and lace (occasionally adorned with embroideries) in a palette of white, black, yellow, blue and clay.
Those who have followed Marques’s most recent collections noticed that the colours and patterns of this latest offering (namely the large floral prints, and the black and white diamond patterns) did not differ much from her previous range. However, for Spring/Summer 2014, the designer added futuristic horizontal ombré stripes and an effective layering of geometric patterns that evoked minimalist art movements from the first half of the twentieth century. In addition, boxy A-line shapes and boyfriend blazers in fabric blocks with elongated collars only served to highlight the predominantly fluid and feminine silhouettes.
After having studied advertising in Brazil, Andrea Marques followed her passion by studying fashion and print at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Upon her return to Brazil in 1992, she joined the Maria Bonita fashion group, where she eventually became creative director, a position she held between 1995 and 2007. She founded her eponymous label in 2007 and has been showing her collections regularly during the official schedule of Fashion Rio since January 2010. Presently, her label sells not only in her flagship store in Rio de Janeiro’s affluent Ipanema neighbourhood but also in 40 multi-brand stores throughout Brazil.
