In a time when catwalks and campaigns are filled with various Hadids, curating a cast that feels both unique and on-brand is rarer than ever. Thankfully, London Fashion Week favourites Marques’Almeida have made it their goal to buck this monotonous trend.
For the past three seasons, Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida have chosen to present their youthful collections on friends, colleagues and muses – including SLEEK contributing Stylist Tess Yopp. The same goes for the newly released SS17 campaign imagery, where the team gathered the “MA girls” together for a laid-back group photoshoot, without any hair and makeup fuss, to capture the relaxed, friendly spirit of the label. “The shoot is more about fun and being together” revealed the press release, and to maintain this down-to-earth atmosphere Marta Marques took the photos herself.
Non-models, or “nodels”, have been increasingly sighted on catwalks from Balenciaga to Hood by Air; however, that usually happens mixed in with other faces predominantly from agencies. Lumpen and Tomorrow is Another Day are some of the agents tapping into the “anti-model” look and offering more unusual faces to the industry. Mullets, bleached brows and crooked noses certainly have their place in fashion at the moment; however, the faces of Marques’Almeida appear to be chosen because the designers actually have a relationship with them. Focusing less on wildly individual or intimidating characteristics and more about presenting a personable group of friends feels like something fresh in a notoriously bitchy industry. Find out more about the youthful spirit of the SS17 campaign here.
