Alexandra Moura's fantastical beasts wrap up Milan Fashion Week

[February 25, 2019] By Marie-Louise Gumuchian

MILAN (Reuters) - Fantastical beasts took over the Alexandra Moura catwalk on Monday as the Portuguese designer wrapped up Milan Fashion Week with a collection of clashing prints and overlapping fabrics.

For the Autumn/Winter 2019 mens' and womenswear line, the Lisbon-born designer took inspiration from Portuguese ceramist Rosa Ramalho, who found fame after the age of 68 with her figures of surrealist creatures.

Models, whose makeup also nodded to Ramalho's work with large circles around their eyes and teeth drawn on their faces, wore jackets, coats and dresses with clashing prints - usually tartan and pinstripe - and plenty of layers, including at times, two pairs of socks.

Hooded jumpers appeared as if wrapped around necks and above puffer jackets, which often had one sleeve hanging on the side.

Ruffles came on dress and skirt trims as well as jumpers. Moura also offered T-shirts and sweatshirts depicting beast figures.

"(Ramalho) was a countryside worker with a sense of aesthetics and intelligence very ahead of her time," show notes read.

"The contrast between her visionary art and her simple countryside life is a key element to the collection's development ... Fantastic beings, monsters and beasts gave life to details, drawings, the mix and overlap of materials, color palette and quotes."

The collection came in mainly dark winter colors - navy, burgundy, mustard - but there were dabs of shiny silver that appeared on collars, leggings, a dress, a head scarf, a ruffled coat and gloves.

Footwear consisted of sneakers and climbing boots.

For men, puffer jackets morphed into jackets with large front pockets. The outfits also bore the clashing prints: on sleeves or trousers legs.

The words "not a dream at all", written in Portuguese, were painted on some of the outfits.

Milan Fashion Week, where designer heavyweights Giorgio Armani, Prada, Gucci and Versace have shown their collections, was the third leg of the month-long catwalk calendar that began with New York and then moved to London.

Paris, the last stop of the Autumn/Winter 2019 womenswear season, kicks off later on Monday.

(Reporting By Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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