Marques'Almeida

 

M’AKERS is a research and mentorship initiative created to empower creative communities and preserve ancestral knowledge. Its aim is to make sure artisanal techniques do not disappear with the passage of time and are instead celebrated and regenerated to extend their presence in our modern lives.

 

Centred in the feminine universe of its communities, who create and care simultaneously, the M’AKERS are thinkers, creators, artists, and precious members of their societies.

This initiative was created to establish meaningful partnerships with them and to preserve traditions, regenerate craft, and empower local artisans reigniting techniques used for years before.

 

 

The knowledge from this project is assimilated in this process which translates itself into elements used in the AW22 collection. 

 

To view MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA AW22 content around the M’AKERS project at London Fashion Week Digital, please follow this link at 3pm on Saturday 19th February:  https://londonfashionweek.co.uk/schedule/609/marques-almeida

Or watch live on www.marquesalmeida.com

 

MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA AW22 show will be presented in the summer in line with the celebration of M’A’s 10-year anniversary.

 

MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA AW22 collection will be available to pre-order to combat waste on marquesalmeida.com from the end of February 2022. 

 

For further information please contact [email protected]

 

M’AKERS CAMPAIGN BY :

Photography : Nuno Vieira @nunommvieira

Video: David Pinheiro Vicente @davidpinheirovicente
Video Cinematography Catarina Telo
Video editor Diogo Vale 
Styling: Bernardo Cunha @bmgmc

Art Direction: Beatriz Faria @beatrizfariaribeiro

Hair: Bruno Bessa Cruz @brunobessacruz

Make up: Renata Motirroni @milk4god

Models: Júlia Nunes @ Just 

Maryana Tsyutsyk @ Just

Catarina Cabral @ Face Models

Priscila Borges @ Face Models

 

Aldevina Serpa is an Azorean artisan from Terceira Island.

She became interested in artisanal techniques at the young age of 6, when she joined a technical school which specialised in handicrafts. While she was still a student, Aldevina was awarded several prizes, including winning first place in a national contest for a Norwegian embroidery technique.

Aldevina went on to specialise in a specific patchwork technique traditional of the Azores used in quilt making, named “crazy patchwork” which became her favourite process. Recently Aldevina has become a teacher and a specialist in “crazy patchwork”. She teaches at the Museum in Angra do Heroísmo and at the Regional Centre for Handicraft Support on São Miguel Island, Portugal.

 

 

 

Sofia Afonso is an obstetric nurse and artisan from Trás-os-Montes in North-West Portugal. In 1993, Sofia moved to São Miguel Island where she met an older artisan who taught her several handcrafts from the Azores including how to work with fish scales. Ever since then, craft work has always been part of Sofia’s life. She became a certified artisan working with limpets and fish scales, and in 2020 her work was among the finalists in the competition of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Popular Culture produced by national television broadcaster RTP. Her work with fish scales is inspired from traditional Azorean aesthetics combined with her own unique point of view. She applies fish scales in a free and innovative way creating her own artistic language. Sofia also teaches the craft of working with fish scales; she wished to pass on her knowledge in the same way she learned: free of charge, passionately and collectively. 

 

 

Sol e Brumas is Sónia Bárbara’s brand, created in 2015 on the island of Terceira in the Azores. Sónia was born in Mozambique, she is an architect and teacher of Visual Arts within secondary education, she has lived in the Azores for 20 years.

Sol e Brumas produced limited edition artisanal pieces, its main inspiration being the evolution of patchwork techniques from a very traditional approach to a more contemporary and inventive one. Her work presents creative, contemporary, and eco-conscious solutions. Sónia promotes collaborative working methods to keep the traditional techniques alive, within the scope of textile handcrafts, through cooperative and intergenerational work.

Sónia’s work involves the application of sinuous and circular shapes made with traditional patchwork techniques on hats.

 

 

M’A Manifesto pledge

The M’A social and environmental manifesto is a commitment to engage, empower, and honour the communities MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA exists in. To do continuous research around how to improve its products, how to action for a positive impact on the planet both internally as a business and externally, and to do its part to protect it for future generations. 

The M’A Manifesto is comprised of three categories which make up a framework for action in driving the brand forward: Product, Social and Day to Day business. 

The work being done across these three areas aims to bring about positive change, to enable M’A to keep learning and to share their knowledge with their teams, network of collaborators and their consumer.

 

 

MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA was created in 2011 by Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida who combined talents while on the MA at Central Saint Martins - hitting the mark between impulse and consideration. While their aesthetic evokes raw effortlessness, the pair’s technical sensibilities are revealed in the construction of each piece. They showed their first 2 seasons under Lulu Kennedy’s platform - Fashion East. In 2014 they were awarded NEWGEN sponsorship from the British Fashion Council/Topshop, showing for 5 seasons in London. In May 2015 MARQUES ‘ALMEIDA were awarded the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers and a British Fashion Award for Best Emerging Designer. In 2020 they launched their Social and Environmental Manifesto, committing to work in a more conscious way to drive change.  In 2020 M’A Kids was launched, and M’A added reM’Ade to the family; a line of collections by M’A and collaborators which transforms waste into new fashion.

www.marquesalmeida.com