Tufi Duek Spring/Summer 2014

Under the creative direction of Eduardo Pombal, Brazilian fashion brand Tufi Duek showed an extremely accomplished womenswear collection during São Paulo Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2014 that confirmed Pombal’s status as a master of resolute sartorial shapes and one of the most promising fashion talents in Brazil. Although the designer claimed that the collection was inspired by Pablo Picasso and cubist art and its rigid geometric shapes in shades of pink and blue purposefully selected to evoke the Spanish painter’s prosperous and melancholic phases (discovered while visiting an exhibition), it was in the section of black dresses with fringed details (a trope that Pombal explored with great success in his previous collection) that the collection was at its strongest.

Seductive asymmetric lines abounded, particularly in a series of pleated dresses and skirts that engendered flattering silhouettes, sometimes with the addition of strategically positioned elongated slits in the front or back of one or both legs. Fringes in horizontal layers and in blocks that faded in ombré effects from white to black suggested an ethereal atmosphere that Pombal had mastered in previous collections. Summery touches came in deep V-neck lines, sleeveless dresses and sharp shoulders that accentuated the feminine body.