Marques’Almeida x Topshop

There are not enough affordable interesting cool clothes out there for young women to buy and wear. Many of the girls I know generally reject high street chains for peddling the same old stuff at them albeit with a different label sewn into the back. For them I say mark the release date for the Marques’Almeida x Topshop collaboration in your diary.

I remember sitting next to Kate Phelan, Topshop’s Creative Director at Marques’Almeida’s first solo catwalk show 18 months ago, the one with the acres of orange and oxblood shantung silk, and I could feel her mind whirring away because Marques’Almeida’s grungy gritty 90s accented approach to style using denim, T-shirting and in these archaic, random bright bolts of shantung seemed to sum up the essence of Topshop’s fashion DNA just like that.

So, no surprises the collaboration appearing Thursday October 9^th features the shantung inspired by that collection, and many, but by no means all, of Marques’Almeida’s denim shapes like the unfinished hem tunic dress, denim parka and five pocket jeans and top ripped to resemble zebra stripes (also inspired from that collection).

Basically, Marques’Almeida x Topshop is for anyone who wants to step away from the accepted norms of denim-y streety dressing on a budget, into something that looks familiar yet also fresh and modern. Its to do with their shapes, and all those shredded, foamy cotton hems. Sure there are shorts, bra tops and mini-skirts, and what Topshop collection doesn’t, but they are not a standard roll-out. The ripped denim top, lilac shantung flares, leather blazer, and pink ribbed jumper dress are my favourite pieces but for team FEAL the denim tunic, button through denim mini skirt and all fake fur stoles are top of the list. It will tick a lot of people’s boxes.

One thing this Topshop collection will do for sure is raise awareness of the London based Portuguese designers Marta Marques and Paolo Almeida work further. Adorably it is not some big name photographer who has lensed the campaign but Marta herself. She gave her 21 year old sister Sofia a call in Lisbon, and rallied her favourite models in to do some 90s Calvin Klein style group posing.

Now is the time to catch them.