Romeo Pires S/S 2011 by Zoe Duke

The fourth day of London Fashion Week at Vauxhall Fashion Scout presented Romeo Pires, who drew this season’s inspiration from the French writer Simone De Beauvoir for the collection ‘Blueish, the fourth sex’.

Continuing their trademark aesthetic, Sergio Pires and Nicholas Humphrey based their elegant designs on the symmetrical and asymmetrical balance of pattern, combined with simple white long tailed shirts and low slung pleated skirts, paired off with thick braces.

Photography by Christopher Dadey

The models addressed the audience with chilling white painted faces and wispy crimped hair. Prints included skull and fossil like patterns on a muted natural palette of dark blue, sand, browns and monochrome tones, with the occasional splash of pink and gold.

Both womanswear and menswear accompanied the catwalk with plenty of excess material within the garments and a varied range of styles. Fabrics simply added to the theatrical presence of the show with layered silk and cotton teamed with high heeled brogues.

Humphrey (l) & Pires (r)

Show Review by Lara Angol

Design duo Sergio Pires and Nicholas Humphrey delivered one of my favorite shows this season.

The show opened to the sound of click clacking heels, and emerging from the top of the catwalk came pairs of models with wisps of hair frayed and teased and faces smudged in white paint. Shapes were dis-proportioned, trousers distorted at the waistband like buckets swung thigh level, held up only by thick calico toned braces. Pockets gaped, oversize, like open mouths whilst long baggy white shirts with slouchy open collars met awkwardly at the lowered waist bands.

Known for both their painterly and digital prints the duo did not disappoint as they effectively simplified their use of print, keeping it relatively capsule compared to previous seasons. I particularly loved a washed out rusty nail motif, arranged in a star like formation, as well as sheer fabrics digitally printed with blown up textural images of a hessian bag. There were darker skull prints in varying scales, reminding me of Victorian carnival freak shows and a beautiful scratched steel pattern over blots of watered down blue, red and green.

As well as trousers, pleated skirts in cottons and sheers were also slung way below the waist. Suspended at a length that, when described in words, would seem inelegant but in reality had a charming awkwardness that had minimalist Japanese aesthetic with a touch of preppy tennis wear. Overall a concise an beautifully designed collection with distinct style.

illustrations by Vic Riches

Romeo Pires comprises Anglo-Brazillian duo Nicholas Humphrey and Sergio Pires.

Originally from Brazil, Pires studied fashion at ECA-USP University in Sao Paulo before moving to London to study textile design where he met Humphrey at Guildhall University.

vauxhall fashion week london