Shenzhen Fashion Week | Local designer stages latest collection

Nuno Lopes (center)

At the recent Shenzhen Fashion Week, local designer Nuno Lopes once again staged his latest collection from his namesake brand and received positive feedback from the audience.
Not only were the clothes made in Macau, but the designer also hired an all-Macau artist team for the show, from stage visuals to music. He also invited Sofia Paiva, local artiste and Macau representative for Miss International Pageant, as a special appearance at the finale.
The inspiration behind this collection came from Lopes’ Macau’s roots. Due to the current global crisis and travel restrictions, Lopes, with the time spent not being able to travel aboard, has been re-introduced to and rediscovered “the beauty of this small little city with big personality,” he said.
The collection is called Chandelier Dream. Inspiration was taken from the Ruins of St Paul’s. Lopes imagined when it was still a church. “[It] was once the grandest cathedral in the Far East with baroque style architecture and gilded interiors,” he told the Times. “There weren’t any paintings that documented the grandeur of this great church, so I used my imagination and visualized that in this collection that comes with heavy crystal beading and baroque patterns.”
Meanwhile, the designer pointed out that the color scheme was heavily inspired by the mural paintings at The Chapel of Capela de Nossa Senhora da Guia on the Guia Hill.
Time was the main challenge in makinge this collection happen, Lopes said. It took the team only a month and a half to finish the manufacturing process. “It was quite a last-minute notice […] that this year’s Shenzhen Fashion week is going ahead,” he explained. “Production difficulties for this collection would be the hand beading all the crystal pieces on the garments and trying to find the balance between commercial and artistic.”
With extended use of shiny materials such as crystals, most of the show pieces glittered especially on the runway. It raises the concerns whether these pieces can be worn on an everyday basis, or are only suitable for special events.
“This collection at the first glance might be very extravagant but there’s actually some items that can be worn on everyday occasions, such as the underwear, swim shorts, blazers and jumpers,” Lopes said, adding that he is always in search of the balance between show pieces and more commercial pieces.
He thinks that it is quite a challenge because the clothes need to be eye-catching and visually one of a kind. “I think that’s the magic of a fashion show,” he remarked.
When asked to compare this collection with his previous golden collection, Lopes said one of his most consistent goals was to minimize the usual gold color that are normally associated with that collection.
In terms of other elements and factors, the designer thinks this collection is more refined than the previous one.
“It contains more hand beading and the use of different materials apart from just using fabrics,” he explained. “We used materials such as glass and chandelier crystals to create some of the signature pieces in this collection.”