MARQUES ALMEIDA AUTUMN/WINTER 2015-16 READY-TO-WEAR LONDON FASHION WEEK

“I WAS trying to work out a way to describe it to everyone after the show,” laughed an unsure Marta Marques – one half of the Marques Almeida duo, Paulo the other – a week before the show, a mood board of their signature Nineties tears and muses before her, and a surprise in store too: swatches of bright neon brocade. “We’re just embracing it,” she said, letting the word “wackier” slip out too.

And wacky it turns out is no bad thing – this a collection that had entirely managed to move on from last season into something new yet equally just as full of their core and covetable pieces, those that have become the solid foundations of this still young label. Case in point, you only have to look around one of their shows to see their ongoing success – people are wearing their frayed denims, be it the cropped jeans or jackets and beyond. The customer is buying.

But it could all too easily have stopped at just denim and become monotonous. Not so. This pair has their feet on the ground when it comes to their customer and their own creative minds. So adding to their roster of pre-set inspiration (Marta’s sister and all those Nineties inspirations) came the addition of Frida Kahlo and Christian Lacroix – eccentric fabrications joined their staple denim: swathes of bling brocade; punctuated panels of Swarovski crystals; molten metallics.

This made for a rainbow procession of pieces: red and pink and egg yolk yellow and green for denim jackets whose sleeves were pinned down to make a cape; blanket knit ponchos; twisted bodice dresses and an incredible crumpled metallic fabric that can be shaped by the touch for bags and a jacket.

Two bags were definitely better than one here, waders were on the agenda too and jeans went pedal-pusher style with straps winding up, down and around them.

Just when you had thought: what can they do next? They went somewhere next – and it was very good.