C H LO E FA S H I O N
Jean Pierre Braganza
Who
To Look
Out
Four
Words by Jay de Belen
There’s a strong architectural presence in many
of Jean Pierre Braganza’s work – clean lines here,
strong geometric shapes there, and a heavy dose of
modern body conscious tailoring. For his Spring/
Summer 2013 collection, we see lots of blacks,
whites and powder blues, but a few pieces venture
into more fiery territory, with some strong jagged
prints. The blues are a sweet kick-off for a spring
wardrobe; there’s a gorgeous almost-60’s mod dress
suited for a sexy night out. And the Braganza label
is all about sexy.
Rock & roll is an underlying theme for any Braganza collection, with Braganza taking inspiration
from English rock bands like The Smiths, Led
Zeppelin and The Stone Roses. It’s all about toughness and grit translating into clothing. And for the
sexier women amongst us, these pieces are rippling
with edgy personality.
His education at the prestigious Central St. Martins
College is obvious in his collections, as well as an
apprenticeship under fashion behemoth Karl Lagerfeld. Being taken under the wing of a leviathan
can only bring good on anybody’s career, and Braganza seems to have shined brighter for it. And his
sales and stockists show – the Jean Pierre Braganza
label is distributed across over 15 countries. Pretty
sweet for a relatively new brand in the high fashion
industry.
Though England is where the Braganza brand
takes its inspiration, the designer is coming to
Toronto to work on a rogue fashion week of sorts,
called the shOws. By reprising collections for his
Canadian fanbase, Braganza is closing the global
fashion gap between countries.