design42day

Nuno Baltazar entranced his audience at ModaLisboa and covertly brought them to some parallel universe at the time of the Golden Twenties with his 2013 Winter collection. Taking the name and core inspiration from the bittersweet notes of the Gershwin brothers’ 1924 tune, “The Man I Love”, as well as Pina Bausch’s legendary, yet heart stopping, interpretation of the song in her work, Nelken, from 1982, Nuno Baltazar translated the melody and the deep underlying human emotions from both works of arts into a demi-couture collection.

The collection itself unfolded like a story, starting off with a knee-length black dress with delicate folds upon the shoulders and a tightly-clinched waist that set the mood for the following outfits that cascaded upon the runway. From then onwards, Baltazar commenced a game with contrasts of colors, lines, and ideas. There were two predominant silhouettes present: the straightforward H line, sharp, straight lines from the shoulder that cross the hips with accented belts or folds, that balanced out the more dramatic, and relaxed curved cocoon profile. It must be noted that the Portuguese designer decided to place more focus and emphasis upon the arms and shoulders, which were subject to folds and drapes that toyed with the idea of volume. Both outlines reinterpreted historically classic looks for a cosmopolitan and sophisticated woman whom certainly does not lack femininity.

The color palette as initially provided for by a total black look, however, soon delicate nude hues started permeating the looks like as if by accident. The color palette slowly evolved to a warm shade of ocher which then quasi-spontaneously released the blood orange and botanists pink tints, combined with natural hues like lava, clay, earth and cocoa, for the more lively looks of the collection. Towards the end of the show, the once-bright colors started retroceding to make way for the silvers, charcoals, and grays in order to finally return to black – not before injecting some white pieces as an element of surprise.

It would be an understatement to say that these clothes were fabricated with a lot of thought and preparation, especially when we see particular designs that come directly from the heart. The precise attention to detail and the saccharine yet nostalgic emotions that these outfits seem to effuse so perfectly, only highlight Baltazar’s distinctive talent and bring it to life.

Camilla Rettura