ModaLisboa Day 3: a +1's Point of View

The energy on Saturday was fantastic and bursting from the walls of Pátio da Galé.

This of course may be associated to the outrageous number of people present to see the most recent collections of Adidas (a show that is known all around due to its high entertainment factor), Filipe Fáisca and Portugal's very own Valentino, Nuno Baltazar.

From left to right: Celebs at the closing of the Adidas show, Filipe Faísca with model Flor Guerreiro and Nuno Baltazar

The focus of today's post will be the designers and their shows... (don't worry, no groundbreaking trends were missed. Day 3 simply revealed more of the same.)

Those of you who read the last post are aware that I pointed out the huge risk of wearing high street fashion to ModaLisboa. Why did I make such a point of mentioning it?

Because it happened to me on Day 3:

I was getting out of a taxi at Praça do Coméricio when I saw her, or rather I saw bright bright bright neon orange over 200 metres away, making it's way into ModaLisboa. The only thing I could hope for was that she was not one of the so-called VIP's on her way to the VIP lounge. Here is a visual of the dress:

Rita, Myself, Matilde and Kika at a lunch in Sintra this August. I think my dress speaks for itself.

Last summer, H&M produced a number of bright neon pieces that I fell in love with. After a lot of convincing, I finally bought this orange number. I think it looks quite elegant when paired with tan and gold accessories. Of course it took me a year to get up the nerve to wear it. Nonetheless, I thought it would be an original colour block look to take to ModaLisboa. Unfortunately, it never crossed my mind that morning while deciding what to wear  that someone else had gone through the exact same train of thought.

Therefore trust me when I say it's awkward. Especially because the dress, both hers and mine, attracts a lot of attention. The other girl was wearing it in a slightly different way, she had a belt and a head band. I opted once again for black tights, my black Uterque gold heeled man shoes, my tan birkinesque bag and a lot of gold jewelery.

Worst came to worst when around 8pm I realized she was also a so-called VIP with access to the lounge. By that time we had crossed paths a couple of times and I was sure she was aware of the less than agreeable situation. My strategy was to stand as far away from her as possible in the 100 square metres made available to us VIPs. Once I noticed she had gone inside I made a point of staying outside. I thought I was the only logical and moral thing to do! Her strategy was the complete opposite: I will never understand why with all that space the girl thought it would be better to come and stand outside literally 5 metres away from me.

Pink and Shakira at 2009 MTV VMA's wearing crystal studded leather Balmain dresses and massive smiles.

Perhaps the best strategy of all would have been not to take the situation so seriously and have a good laugh. Remember how well Shakira and Pink dealt with a similar event at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards? And let's face it, in their case, heads could role. This is an example of an inexcusable mistake  made by a Stylist. Balmain should also share the blame. What's great is that both these stars managed to see the funny side and get a lot of press coverage !

Now, let's talk about The Designers: 

• ADIDAS - ADIDAS ALL IN SUMMER 2012

 Adidas is All In Global Campaign 

The collection presented Day 3 on the runway of ModaLisboa is part of the global Adidas Is All In campaign. Lisboa had the privilege of viewing the following lines all on the same catwalk:

• Original Blue & Denim line;

• Originals by David Beckham/James Bond line. 

• Orginals by Jeremy Scott line;  

The Beckham/Bond and Scott collections are premium designs, targeted at fashion lovers. 

• The Beckham/Bond line is casual, clean and supposedly based on Beckham's personality and style:

Beckham/Bond for Adidas SS11 (last year)

• Jeremy Scott's inspiration was derived from his usual favourite elements, among them American Pop-Culture, Urban Jungle and Music with graphical lines.

We wait for the show to start with baited breath, and then it does. The models strut their way down the catwalk to LazyTown's Wicked and Lazy. It's just so cool. I've never been one for sportswear. Ever. When I go running, well let's be honest power walking, I usually wear black leggings and an old t-shirt.


It would be absolutely ridiculous to "dress-up" or spend money on clothes that are worn with sole purpose of being sweat in. Then again, I'm not an athlete, so maybe I just don't get it. But if this was the case, why was I loving the collection and getting excited at the idea of wearing one of the outfits out for a run? And then Matilde said it:

"It's no longer about sportswear, it's about street wear, and they were the first ones to make it cool.":

We can clearly see Jeremy Scott's influence in each of the pieces shown above.

As we know, the Adidas show is made up of a careful and calculated combination of models and mortals. Well, these mortals are celebrities in the form of comedians, television presenters, actors and athletes. The contrast is great.

The Models take their profession seriously, their faces remain completely oblivious to the flashes and screams of the crowd:

The celebrities have to be divided into two groups: the male celebs and the female celebs
Note: from this group lets exclude the athletes because they know how to strut in street wear

• The Male Celebs: They were hysterical. Why? Because they had a good time and made fun of themselves on the catwalk. Our male comedians, actors etc pushed out their chests, exaggerated their walk and pouted like there was no tomorrow. And the crowd went crazy: 

Rui Unas (Photographs property of Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

Athlete Nelson Évora (Photographs property of Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

Luis Filipe Borges (Photographs property of Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

• The Female Celebs: They were... well... posing. To be fair, it's much harder and less likely for a woman to make fun of herself in public, even more so on a catwalk. The overall feeling I got from spectators I interviewed after the show was that some of our bigger female stars were just trying too hard. Nonetheless, they looked great and the ones who were smiling, looked even better: 

Our smilers: Sofia Ribeiro and Mafalda Matos. (Photographs taken from Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

Our Pouters: Rita Pereira and Andreia Dinis. (Photographs taken from Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

By associating its sports wear to  designers, celebrities and athletes, Adidas has managed to take sports wear to the next level: fashionable street wear that you can do sports in. 

Consumers can have their comfort, their high quality anti-perspiration textiles, their orthopedic shock shoes and of course, their sense of style. Adidas just makes sure they have the best sports professionals' opinions and the hippest designers to make you look and feel good.


So here's to Adidas who knows how to put on one hell of a show:

(Photographs property of Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

(Photographs property of Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

(Photographs property of Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

(Photographs property of Caras Online, Campiso Rocha)

• FILIPE FAÍSCA 

The theme of Faísca's lastest collection was Bionic & Botanic: Faded Summer with a dip twist of fresh colours.

The materials were a mixture of silks and leathers in basic and neon colours including acid prints. 

I was just beginning to get used to my +1 VIP treatment when my friend Rita, a journalist at GQ, decided I needed an upgrade. With a flash of her press pass we were skipping queues and suddenly, I was being seated in the second row in the middle of the catwalk, just behind the area reserved for Paula Mateus, the editor of Vogue, to watch one of Portugal's most loved desginers. Not bad at all. Thank you Rita: 

Pedro and Rita, taken by João Bacelar for ModaLisboa Transfusion

What was notable about the show? For one thing, the view! The patterns were great. The first pieces had strong bright colours and prints made of silks that flowed beautifully. This provided a wonderful contrast to the darker red and black outfits made of leather and softer materials.
Let's take a closer look:

The degradé prints are exquisite. Note that the bright fresh colours provide a high contrast to the dark combination of black and red.

And then there were the pin-up pants, or should we call them hot pants. It was fairly predictable that lingerie would make its way into the collection given that Triumph was Faísca's official sponsor:

Very sexy, silky and lacy hot pants. 

And last but not least, there was Flor, the closing star of the show:

What really made Faísca's collection one of the best I saw? The show. What exactly about the show? The closing. Flor Guerreiro is one of Portugal's most famous and well paid models, the reason being she just about the best in the industry. The moment she unveiled the grey degradé silk dress to reveal the pin-up ensemble was fantastic. There was such power in her stride and movements... Anyone could see that she was dedicated to making Faísca look good and stand out.
 
And he was thankful: 

When Faísca came running down the runway hand in hand with Flor, the momentum couldn't have been greater. There is nothing more moving in any type of profession than to see a team that works well together, pushing for an extraordinary final outcome.  

The media feeds us so much information about the woes of the fashion industry: the drugs, the superficiality, the bad working environment etc... It doesn't paint the prettiest of pictures. But the ones below bring about such feelings of hope, happiness  and "cumplicidade" that they need to be shared:

The Fantastic Duo: Flôr and Faísca. (Photographs by Andreia Miranda for Lux online)

• NUNO BALTAZAR

Everyone I talked to was going to and looking forward to Nuno Baltazar. He is considered one of best. And after having seen his show I understand why. 

The first thing they pleased me upon reading the synopsis of the collection was that the overall concept of the collection was very real. In other words, it was clear and concrete enough for the average person to grasp.

What was the concept? "Ma Dame": Baltazar based his collection on a close Parisienne friend of his called Anne Sophie Baillet who he believes to be the only woman to fully understand his designs and the various occasions which they can be worn to. 

Sick of being perceived as a cocktail and red carpet dress designer, Baltazar includes in this collection his own version of casual wear. The formal pieces are not to be categorized solely as evening wear, for Baltazar's ideal women can pull of a cocktail dress to brunch.

According to Baltazar the collection aims at exploring the different moments in a woman's universe: a time for being casual, a time for being chic, a time for being girl, a time for being daring and a time for going all out. In other words, the designer has created an outfit for every occasion for the wardrobe of his ideal client.

So let's take a look at Baltazar's ideal women: 

 They wear headbands, they have style, they wear fitted dresses in pastel and light colours

It's all very Côte d'Azure in 20's. It's easy to picture any of these women stepping onto a yacht.

One could imagine anyone of these women going to work in one of these outfits, oozing power in a sophisticated and feminine kind of way.

They wear high waisted trousers and have caped tops, very Femme Fatal.

The collars, the belts and the cuts are all chic and elegant, accentuating the neckline and the waist in a discreet yet classy way.

(Note: the belts are highly symbolic of Nuno Baltalzar designs and usually always present in his collections.)

Cocktail party? Or meeting friends for lunch?

The ordinary woman would assume that any one of the above outfits would be perfect for a cocktail party. But after having read Baltazar's objectives for the current collection, we know that they're
meant for much more, or perhaps much less. 
After all, his ideal perfect woman with her risqué personality believes that one can never look to chic at lunch.

Classic 20's. 

The show closes with this somewhat Charleston 20's inspired look. The metallic fringes make a swooshing, tinkling sound with every movement that is ever so glamorous. This is a woman who does not go unnoticed.

Any woman would die for this collection. 

He may not be a trend setter, but each garment is executed to absolute perfection.

"Nuno Baltazar is just the type of man you ask to design your wedding dress because you know it will be beautiful."

Nuno Baltazar, you are my portuguese Valentino.