ModaLisboa Day 2 : a +1's Point of View

During the past 4 days I kept reminding myself of one thing: being here is a privilege therefore it is your obligation to make the most of it. Having a business major, I identified three major personal objectives to be met by Monday the 11th of October at 6h30 AM, the closing time of Absolute One the club where the ModaLisboa Transfusion closing party took place. They are as following:

• Learning about Portuguese designers
• Identifying Lisboestas current top Trends
• Networking  

The observations regarding designers and trends can be found below. The networking I'll keep to myself.

!!!But before going on to talk about trends and designers, I would like to leave an important note to all of you reading this!!!

Avoid wearing Zara to Fashion Week, especially Lisbon Fashion Week, because you'll risk bumping into about a thousand other women wearing the same outfit. And it will be awkward. 

Of course we can't all afford Haute Couture, I for sure can't. But if you are going to wear high street  fashion:

• Pick pieces you love from seasons past. 

• Opt for your one-in-a-kind pieces: Take a long look at your wardrobe and search for that item you bought in Notting Hill that you KNOW no-one else will be wearing. 
  

• Wear brands that your country does not have easy access to - In the case of Portugal:TopShop, American Apparel, Urban Outfitters etc.
  

I counted 7 girls wearing the same Zara metallic jacket and 5 girls wearing this Zara metallic top. And that was in just one day...

Having said this, let's get back to business.

The Trends:

• Metallics Were Everywhere:

When Day 2 arrived I was met with a huge sense of relief because a number of the trends mentioned in the previous post were confirmed, especially when it came to the golds and glitters.

Chanel Gold Sequin Dress that demonstrates how to go all out in Glitter & Gold

• The double "C'ed" Glittery Urban Legend

I was under the impression that the Chanel Glitter Bag was an urban legend. Once the shows were over, most of the ModaLisboa crew made their way to Guilty, Olivier's restaurant by day and club by night, for a party hosted by Fashion TV. While smoking a cigarette and chatting to a friend, this ultimate accessory caught my eye, literally glittering in the night. It was gray and not purple, but nonetheless, utterly divine.

• The Urban Legend

• Boho-Chic:

The Bohemian Chic look was still in full force and by this time it was hard not to notice the number of pseudo black bowler hats and loose maxi pleated hippy skirts...

...Interesting fact...

According to the article Going to great lengths: The long skirt is back published by The Independent in April of 2010, 1920's designer Paul Poiret, the man "who liberated post-Edwardian women from their steel-reinforced corsets and bustles, and introduced the hobble skirt" knew that long skirts would one day eventually be back in: "When I announce today that short skirts have ended their reign and I prophesy long skirts, I produce feelings of anxiety and disquiet. I am told that I am mad. Women swear they will never again wear long skirts." And yet here we are in 2011 embracing them, nearly 90's after Poiret's vision and two years after this article was published, a time when these skirts were quietly making their comeback..

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/going-to-great-lengths-the-long-skirt-is-back-1935799.html

The ways in which women differently wear the look can be seen below and has been spotted at both NYC and Paris Fashion Week:

From left to right: A number of these boho skirts and not only pleated but transparent. The image in the center actually shows a combination of two of the most seen ModaLisboa trends: Metallic Boho Pleated Skirt.

• Lace 

Lace was Omnipresent at ModaLisboa. Lace dresses and lace tops. Most of them black, cream, nude and hinting strongly at transparency. This material is an essential must have for those wishing to pull  off this season's trends (even though it actually belongs to past seasons.. ) Note: Lace works very well  for the Gothic and Classic look, but it's become an increasingly important material in the wardrobes of the Boho stars Sienna Miller and Kate Moss. 

Lace works with a Classic/Conventional look as it does for a Boho-Chic outfit.

Emma Watson does lace as well as feathers divinely at the Harry Potter Premiere. It's a classic.

Emma Watson in a Rafael Lopez design, the perfect LLBD: Little Lace Black Dress

Christian Louboutin has gone as far as to produce lace to adorn our feet:

According to a number of sources that include magazines Elle and Glamour, the cool thing right now is Red Lace. It's made its way out of the bedroom, embracing the red carpet and the hearts of many. 

If history has taught us anything it's that once Alexa Chung supports it we'll all eventually catch up. 

                      Erdem red lace dress from its Spring 2011 collection.

Now let's move on to the designers.

The Designers:
 
(Note: The images of the both these shows are taken from the official ModaLisboa blog. If you want to look at the complete collections check out www.dailymodalisboa.blogspot.com) 

• Luis Buchinho

 
According to Buchinho, this season's collection was based on a  deconstructed greco-roman universe, reborn in a tropical environment.  This idea is visually displayed through the elegant draping of the pieces. Sun yellow and prints are the two main elements used to energize the collection, making it fun and youthful and of course tropical.

Besides silks and prints, Buchinho also uses rope-like cords, crochet and sequins. From a personal note I'd like to add that a number of the pieces appear to have mystic underwater theme. The coral colours are reminiscent of beautiful plants that rest beneath the water, the crochet roped garments could be representations of fish scales and that final sequin embellished dress enhanced with silk-like fins hinting at the silhouette of an exquisite dainty mermaid. (Could it be that Buchinho had a chat will Karl Largerfeld and Sarah Burton so that the collections would all be based on variations of the same theme?) Take a closer look below:

•    Ana Salazar

Ana Salazar is known for her bold, somewhat dark and slightly ethnic style. The collection, from a fashion newbie's perspective, had a somewhat tribal theme, based on palette, make-up and accessories.


According to Salazar, the pieces should reflect the various stages of construction during the creative process as well as "the foundations that sustain them". (In other words, what we should be seeing are designs in the making or rough drafts). The result is an intriguing display of volumes, structures and materials. 

It's bold, its dark and it's interesting. One could argue that a number of the pieces are unfinished, if this is in fact true and they are in fact rough drafts then they're like no other rough drafts ever seen simply because they're executed to perfection.

In conclusion, it was a very fulfilling day. The concepts behind the designs were interesting, especially that of Ana Salazar.

I do believe that in my last post I made an appeal to Lisboa to WOW me. If this level is kept up and built upon I may have to eat my words and admit  that perhaps I was to quick to judge...

Day 2 was definitely enlightening. Let's see what has to be said about Days 3 and 4 and if I will have to actually own up to some sort of error in judgment.