The collection includes long and short sleeved tops made of fine quality cotton with minimal designs or richly embroidered with thick cotton lace, metallic zippers and decorative buttons in silver, oxide or black metal. Prints inspired by traditional Nomadic scarves are incorporated into the collection as embroideries or panelling applied to the garments in order to accentuate the male silhouette.

Trousers come in crisp natural cottons, cargo shapes that can be separated from knee, or as strong statements in the form of sculpted leather that can also be seen in three different styles of leather jackets as part of the range ‘Artesanal by Conquistador’. In addition, the varsity jacket is reworked in all natural leather material with detachable sleeves so that it can be styled as a vest.

Conquistador’s choice of colours for the label’s third collection includes dove grey, white, black, and caramel-camel brown hues to resemble nude and sensual tones.

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Claiming inspiration from the fantastical science-fiction undertones of the 2013 film Under the Skin (directed by Jonathaazer and featurin Glng Scarlet Johansson), the collection is anchored by a colour palette of black (with occasional accents of sand, pink and off-white), with leather playing a prominent role as the material of choice (in either soft or heavier versions) against soft wool. Silhouettes juxtapose urban subcultures (through hoodies and biker jackets fastened by zippers) while channelling suave dandyism in the form of tuxedo jackets with peaked lapels, sharply angular shoulder and collar lines, and merino wool tops incorporating blocks of chiffon.

At the same time, stark details such as slit elbows, horizontal and vertical appliquéd fabric stripes on trousers, and cropped, sleeveless shirts serve to elongate the shape of the body while subtly drawing attention to the role of flesh in engendering the physicality of contemporary menswear.

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The store houses Valentino’s womenswear, menswear and accessories lines across three floors where grey marble coexists with black steel, aluminium and brass. Two other Valentino stores (one in Aspen, Colorado, and the other in Miami’s Design Distric) are scheduled to open this year in the USA, a market that accounts for approximately 25% of the label’s global sales.

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In the year it opened, and as part of its cultural outreach programme, the Dragão do Mar centre featured the first ever edition of Dragão Fashion Brasil. Organised every year since then by Claudio Silveira with the financial support from commercial partners and local and national government authorities (including the Federal Government of the region of Ceará and the Brazilian Ministry of Culture), the event serves not only as a platform for new and established fashion designers to show their creations, but also entails a public series of lectures, debates, performances, seminars and practical workshops about the importance of fashion and associated creative industries. Anchored by an eclectic creative curatorial intent that is also practical and educational in its purpose, as it celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2014, Dragão Fashion Brasil confirmed its unique role in the global landscape of fashion events.

Between 23 and 27 April, over 45,000 participants made the most of the 2014 Dragão Fashion Brasil by attending at least one of the 40 runway shows where Brazilian and international designers and fashion graduates showed their latest collections, as well as taking part in dozens of presentations and hands-on activities. In addition, the showcase also involved the region’s buoyant manufacturing industry (which includes some of the largest fabric and clothing factories in the world, responsible for employing 115,000 people, producing 116,000 tonnes of fabric, and making 600 million garments a year) in the form of sponsorships and collaborations with emerging designers.

If most fashion creations displayed in the Dragão do Mar complex in the bustling centre of Fortaleza demonstrated interesting treatments of experimental concepts, when it came to their developmental process and direction of execution, proficiency levels unsurprisingly varied. However, a large number of brands stood out for their accomplished results and for demonstrating the benefits of quality and creativity to the betterment of society.
In womenswear, the reinterpretation of a traditional ultra-feminine perspective of fashion could be observed in the collections proposed by Kalil Nepomuceno and Ivanildo Nunes. In their designs, long voluminous evening dresses featured layers of chiffon and lace and the silhouettes were overall accentuated in voluptuous hourglass shapes. Drawing from this principle, but allowing a more dynamic fluidity generated by ornamented fabrics, Lino Villaventura presented a collection with a dramatic colour palette that combined dark earthy tones with off-whites, and print came in the form of ombré gradients, abstract florals and animal skin prints. And, in typical Villaventura fashion, large pleats, bejewelled pins and beaded stitching provided textured contours by manipulating the layering and hanging direction of delicate fabrics such as gauze and silk. 

London-based Italian designer Nico Didonna accepted the invitation made by the organisers of Dragão Fashion Brasil and presented a collection underpinned by the notion of wrapping. Plain off-white, royal blue, red, anthracite or hand-painted dresses made from jersey, viscose, or crepe highlighted the natural curves of the body while adjusting to, rather than shaping, the silhouette. Also playing a key role in this broad category, Mark Greiner and Roberto Dias worked together on a unique contemporary reinterpretation of local folklore that relied on strong original touches such as highly structured shoulders and a good treatment of noble fabrics (including chiffons, soft leathers and jacquards), even if, at stages, the final results were let down by the actual styling of the runway presentation.

However, it was when designers opted for exploring minimal lines and structured silhouettes that womenswear collections were at their most successful during the 2014 edition of Dragão Fashion Brasil. In this sense, Vitorino Campos’s fusion of streetwear tailoring with luxurious fabrics (unveiled just a few weeks earlier during São Paulo Fashion Week), Carol Barreto’s asymmetrically fastened garments and structured cuts (that contrasted with oversized crocheted jewellery pieces), Jefferson Ribeiro’s geometric exercises in an elegant colour palette of white, lemon and crimson, and Gisela Franck’s deconstructed garments made from soft fabrics with applications of collage-like layers all contributed a new vocabulary towards the lexicon of Brazilian women’s fashion.

In menswear, the most accomplished collection was the one that guest designer Nuno Gama presented on the very last day. Well-established in his native Portugal (where he founded his eponymous label in 1991), Gama chose to exhibit and edited version of his Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, where textures and rich materials (including fox fur, snakeskin, astrakhan, leather and thick wools) provided the material frame to extremely fitted cuts.

Currently enrolled in Milan’s Istituto Marangoni, young designer Jonathan Scarpari took a break from his fashion studies to return to his native Brazil and show his latest collection during Dragão Fashion Brasil. Entitled ‘B-24’, the collection drew inspiration from the idea of incorporating the genetic code into the design of unique garments in order to highlight the importance of individuality. This was achieved by working fabrics such as softened leather through hand-woven three-dimensional houndstooth patterns. In addition, Brazilian and Italian cool wool and organic silk were used in fitted tops, tailored shirts, jackets, trousers, and overalls that showed the influence of recent menswear designs by the likes of J.W. Anderson while audaciously and confidently attempting to push forward the boundaries of conventional tailoring.

Rather than focussing on a single collection, like most designers opted to do in Fortaleza, renowned Brazilian menswear designer Mario Queiroz showed 27 looks that he had designed throughout his 18-year-old career, ranging from conventional suiting and casual staples to more confidently daring kaftans, sleeveless jumpsuits, gold shorts, and sequined espadrilles. Pushing the boundaries quite a few steps further, Weider Silveiro and Jadson Raniere displayed the collection that they presented to inaugurate their label 2|Dois in October 2013. Both alumni of the São Paulo-based creative platform Casa de Criadores, Silveiro and Raniere investigated the potential of deconstructed tailoring, androgynous identities, and the influence of 1980s Japanese designers in details such as exposed stitching and frayed fabrics, elongated sleeves balancing cropped waist lines, oversized leather biker jackets, and abstract patterns supposedly inspired by the futuristic graphic artwork created by Peter Saville for Joy Division’s 1979 album ‘Unknown Pleasures’.

When asked to describe 2|Dois to Brazilian followers of fashion, Silveiro and Raniere declared that they hoped it would be ‘a breath of fresh air in a market typified by sameness.’ As their runway show finished and the audience applauded with resounding excitement, there was little doubt that their words would also be most suitable to describe what Dragão Fashion Brasil has achieved over 15 years, and the exciting developments that Brazilian fashion has in store for many more years to come.

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If Lisbon has had a reasonably successful fashion week that has been running for decades owing to sponsorship agreements, Portugal Fashion uses Portuguese and European Union private and public funds to promote not only some of the designers that regularly show in the Portuguese capital but also, and rather importantly, to allow many budding labels to exhibit their collections in Lisbon, Porto, and internationally in São Paulo, London and Paris. “Portugal Fashion was originally based exclusively in Porto; however, over the past few seasons, we felt that it was important for visitors to the event to be able to see what Lisbon offered too; hence starting there on the first day before heading to Porto” a spokesperson for ANJE explained.
The first day saw Storytailors, João Melo Costa and Alves/Gonçalves showing their collections in the Portuguese capital. Of the three fashion labels, it was the young Melo Costa (whose pieces had been shown during London Fashion Week just a few weeks before) who stood out, with a well-edited collection featuring inquisitively youthful silhouettes and comprising garments made from noble fabrics and adorned with seductive embellishments.

On the second day of Portugal Fashion, and after a three-hour bus journey to Porto (Portugal’s second biggest city after Lisbon), over 100 journalists, buyers and agents were able to witness the collections by Julio Turcato, Luis Buchinho, Daniela Barros, Hugo Costa, and Anabela Baldaque in the environs of Porto’s Customs House, the majestic building designed by French architect Jean Colson and inaugurated in 1869. If Baldaque charmed for drawing inspiration from Swinging London and late 1960s womenswear shapes and patterns, Hugo Costa’s menswear collection (presented under the moniker ‘Bushido’ as an homage to Japanese culture) shone for its accomplished urban and cosmopolitan sartorial tropes, with strong examples of footwear and backpacks to match.
On 28 March, Susana Bettencourt, Estelita Mendonça, Carla Pontes, Katty Xiomara, Diogo Miranda, Mafalda Fonseca, Teresa Martins, Carlos Couto, and Fátima Lopes had the chance to show their designs in the busiest day of the showcase. Perhaps the most international of this cohort, Lopes unveiled a collection that relied on formal structures and dialectic approaches to silhouettes that balanced geometries and lines throughout a crafted range of pieces. On the opposite scale, Miranda opted for a classically elegant collection redolent of Christian Dior’s New look and suggesting the influence of some of Yves Saint Laurent’s early designs. In menswear, João Pedro Estelita Mendonça stood out for his innovative fabrics and deconstructed menswear lines. The last day of Portugal Fashion Autumn/Winter 2014 focussed on presenting commercial ranges of ready-to-wear, accessories and footwear, areas where Portugal has been revealing some solid accomplished successes over the last two or three years by relying on an investment in collaborations with young designers. Miguel Vieira, whose creations have been recognised in Portugal and abroad particularly over the last decade, closed the event with a series of looks anchored by tubular forms made possible by accentuating waists, slumping shoulders and balancing oversized and fitted garments.

However, the collection that stood out for all the right reasons was the one that Teresa Martins conceived for her label TM Collection. Through an intelligent and critical questioning of ethnicity and Portuguese folklore, Martins engendered a range of garments that, when examined beyond the styling and presentation format, revealed elegant details such as painstakingly pleated skirts and blouses, as well as embroidered coats and bags. Voluminous garments and scarves contrasted with fitted pants, and noble gold jewellery pieces were juxtaposed with heavy urban footwear. Ultimately, this was a collection that summed up the unique aesthetic mark that young Portuguese designers have been making on the international fashion arena; one that, despite its genteel level of influence, undoubtedly deserves a closer look.

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Overall, for Spring/Summer 2014, Reiss has invested in a tailored and sophisticated silhouette for men that is evident in the fitted sleeves of shirts and coats, in the slim-cut legs of trousers, and in the cropped outerwear. Key pieces for the season include a belted safari leather jacket and a leather backpack that conjure, simultaneously, an idea of adventure and a sense of urbane masculinity.

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The 40,000 square-foot store will be Topshop’s second largest retail space in the world after the 90,000 square-foot London flagship on the corner of Oxford Street and Regent Street. Its inauguration will mark the expansion of Topshop/Topman in the US, with new stores planned to open in San Diego and Washington in 2014, and in Houston and Atlanta in 2015. Globally, Topshop trades from around 500 stores, while Topman trades from about 400, while 15 new stores trading both brands are planned to open over the next year in eight countries, including Russia, Turkey and Vietnam.

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As in the previous collection’s campaign, Beckham models the men’s underwear pieces in the photographs and film created by film director Nicolas Winding Refn to promote the new range of boxer shorts, pyjama bottoms, long-sleeved T-shirts and vests.

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If the collection incorporates conceptual and physical elements from faraway countries such as rare skins, geological gems, the animal geoglyph motifs from the Nazca Lines, and traditional Peruvian needle-punched horizontal stripes, the results couldn’t be more sophisticated: silhouettes are slim and clean silhouettes, garments are crafted from noble materials, and an array of stylish accessories complements the looks.
Luxurious fabrics are ubiquitous throughout the collection and include mohair and huarizo (an alpaca-llama crossbreed) in suiting; double-faced vicuña in robes; and cashmere (sometimes blended with silk) in evening double-breasted overcoats, reversible coats, blousons and gloves, or in hand-knitted strips that resemble fur. In addition, dégradé silk is used for evening suits worn over micro-checked and striped shirts, while lounge pants, T-shirts and sweatshirts feature artisan crochet stitch detailing; and a range of scarves made from silk twill incorporate subtle patterns such as chevrons, stripes, and herringbone.

As has become expected of Louis Vuitton, opulent and textured furs and leathers abound: shearling panels are used in a reversible zip-up sweater, chinchilla-lined silk is detailed with heat-sealed zippers and seams, and a windbreaker made from python skin is finished with a calf-leather hood. Equally, accessories and footwear incorporate innovatively treated and patterned skins: a Derby city shoe comes in silver-mirrored calfskin, grained nubuck or crocodile; a city ankle boot-hybrid uses glazed calf with a padded nappa ankle; and rubberized leather is used for the trimming of bags, a predominant accessory offered in a comprehensive range that includes holdalls, totes, messengers, trolley bags, duffles, folios and hybrid backpacks.

And confirming the desirable social status that Louis Vuitton commands, the collection comprises more economical objects that stress the brand’s identity in the form of accessories and jewellery pieces: every look in the collection comes with sunglasses with coloured and mirrored lenses; whereas necklaces, rings, and lapel pins inspired by South-American geology incorporate gems and stones such as crystal, quartz, amethyst, ionite, agate and jasper.

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