WOLKE BOS – the defining force of Oporto’s fashion design – hosted it’s 3th show in a English-style Neopalladian townhouse. The location was perfectly chosen. Outside, the grandeur of the classic façade had been flattened by a cold holophote lamp, leaving no room for shadows. Inside, the tone was albeit different. A romantic overly-elaborate interior design hinted at neo-gothic tones, while Frère Jacques echoed through the multiple chambers. And it wasn’t a happy mood. Moreover, it was elaborately sad.
Albeit sweet in its melodic shyness, Frère Jacques is the song of death. And Oporto’s fashion designers wanted us to know how they have been thinking about it. Daniela Barros opened the show with a collection of dark greens, burgundies, greys, and obviously blacks, putting this palette into coloring both intricate Rorschach body-hugging prints and furry synthetic oversized coats. Some of it was stunning, some needed editing. Despite so, it showed a very healthy take on fashion, Ghesquiere-ish in its creativeness and hard work. Elizabeth Teixeira’s was perhaps the most wearable collection. French prettiness, yet strict. She wanted pretty to play with death, and we must say she succeeded. The dark mood was then to be shaken by Andreia Oliveira’s collection. Baby blues, soft pinks, everything from cotton-candy to 90’s Portuguese birthday cakes was channeled. It was all too close to my childhood recollections of single-mother’s penniless party planning. Yes, there can be sorrow to the sweetest color, probably because the sweetest color will always fight a bitter shade. It made me think, and that’s a good thing.
After a brief interval spent gossiping in the staircases of the Pinto Leite’s Palace, the show went on showcasing Alexandre Marrafeiro and Diana Matias work. Warriors of nothingness. Errant beauties. One should never forget that beneath layers of black and mist, and amidst white ghostly shapes, there is a struggle. A struggle to allow beauty to birth, even if the world is against so. Destroy what destroys you, and dress for the occasion. This is WOLKE BOS’ proposition for the next fall.
Credits photos: Matthew Furtado
