Chatting with Maria Gambina
We interviewed Maria Gambina, one of the designers participating in the last edition of Portugal Fashion.
What is your assessment of this year's Portugal Fashion?
It's a very positive balance in the sense that all the conditions were met so that it was possible to present the Designers' collections with the necessary quality and security. It was a huge effort of Portugal Fashion, the courage, commitment and creativity is commendable.
What was the great inspiration for this collection?
The collection comes from the Quarantine Funky, daily set during the quarantine recorded by Pedro Tenreiro; from the first meeting of friends, after quarantine, in the pools of the inn of Ofir and the loss of a friend.
It is a contemporary view of the Afro-American environment of the 60's with details of the swimming Olympics.
What is the reason for the choice of fabrics used?
There is always a side to subverting the materials in my collections and this has not escaped there is a rule. The collection is quite feminine in a Space Age silhouette but the attitude is cool. If I had chosen more delicate and flying materials I would have "killed" the collection. Everything is interconnected and only this way it makes sense and the message is passed on. The chosen materials reinforce the contemporary side of the collection that are always, almost all, worked with new technical finishing solutions or with graphic prints.
Do you consider that three days of Portugal Fashion were very different from previous years? Did you really feel the effects of the pandemic?
Yes, it was three very different days as it has been our days since March. It is impossible not to feel, it is printed on the masks.
Did you feel, in some way, that this phase that we went through affected the concretion of your collection? What impact has the pandemic had on your work and creative dynamics?
I didn't feel that it affected the concretion of the collection but in creative terms it was very present. Besides all the creative references having passed through moments of quarantine, the use of finishes in antibacterial membranes in the materials and the creation of an accessory, in puff sleeves, that emerges from the idea of the mask placed in the arms but presented in size xxxxxxxxl was something that I would never remember if I did not have to go through this pandemic.
What are the perspectives for the future?
I don't know, hope but one day at a time.
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Maria Gambina is one of the consecrated creators who uses the Troficolor fabrics in her collections.
BIO
Maria Cristina Lopes was born on April 3, 1969 in Oliveira de Azeméis.
She has a degree in Fashion Design from CITEX 92 and, from her vast and diversified career as a designer, several participations in national and international events and several first prizes in design contests (among others, and soon in 1992 and repeating in 1993, in the Sangue Novo contest, promoted by ModaLisboa).
In partnership with José António Tenente, he wins the design and uniform design competition for EXPO-98, Lisbon.
She was distinguished with the Creator of the Year'97 award by Look Elite and, in 1998, with the Golden Globe in the category Personality of the Year-Fashion.
In 2000 with her collection MUSIC IS MY LIFE, she won the prize for the best women's collection promoted by ModaLisboa, and in 2008 she won the 1st prize in the uniform design competition for the COLÉGIO EFANOR in Belmiro de Azevedo, Porto.
In 2011 his work was recognized in a retrospective entitled As Saias da Maria, promoted by the Municipality of Matosinhos and ESAD.
She was the Designer chosen to represent Portugal, as Portuguese ambassador, in the Euro-Fashion/Fashion ft. Football 2012 project in Ukraine.
In parallel and since 1994 she dedicates herself to teaching Fashion Design as a teacher, starting at CITEX and going through other institutions such as CENATEX, Escola de Moda do Porto and in the last years at ESAD (Escola Superior de Artes e Design - Matosinhos) where for 8 years she was Coordinator and Teacher of the Curriculum Unit Project II, of the Degree in Fashion Design. She has taught Nuno Baltazar, Paulo Cravo, Katty Xiomara, Ricardo Andrez, among others, and now the new generation of young designers on the rise, David Catalán, Tânia Nicole, Inês Torcato, Olimpia Davide, Beatriz Bettencourt, Joana Braga, Rita Sá and Gonçalo Peixoto.
Maria Gambina, a brand created in 1993, has since then participated in numerous projects and challenges launched by brands, companies and institutions, in a journey that is as much connected to fashion as to music, and which then connects everything between them.
