Ankles are the beacon of light for change

Remember when ankles were the sexiest part of the body a woman could show? We were heading in the right direction in fashion. Hemlines were changing, and attitudes toward optional silhouettes fast approaching. I might be optimistic, and there is still a long way to go - but the recent nod and inclusion of ankle exposing slim lined suits and trou' for men are very promising in terms of a design breakthrough I hope will catch on.

Darren Criss for GQ showing how it's done in ankle exposing trousers

It wasn't that many months ago that at being questioned what my thoughts were on menswear in an interview by Amelia's Magazine I outlined my frustration with the fact that men simply do not experiment. I even went as far as to controversially state that most men I've had the pleasure of working for that far "have bigger mouths than the will to be experimental". I went on to say that "There’s not much room for experimentation for me as a designer, as they’re very specific about what they want and even half an inch down or up is a deal breaker. Hopefully I can be proven wrong one day."

A few days ago I had a few insightful discussions with some of my fellow menswear ethusiasts including the graphic designer David McGillivray and a few Twitter friends during which I came to realize that although there is a variety in menswear, the actual consumer varies from person to person instead of within situations as it does for women. As I said, when mentioning my upcoming collection including both womenswear and menswear, women comment "Oh, I can't wait to see what you've come up with" while men say "I hope the collection includes pieces that are basically what I already wear".

Although the experimentation is minimal and only applied in refinement of an already decided on style instead of a full blown experimentation, instead of being frustrated I'm feeling more driven to crack this nut than ever. I'm lucky that I'm still at the stage where I can establish and refine certain key pieces, design features particular to me and a fit I hope a group of guys will be able to incorporate as part of their already established style. Much like they do. In that respect I will be taking inspiration to their approach to styling and apply it to my approach to designing, different to the way I approach designing for women, which very much fits into the way women style.

I can't wait.

Furthermore, I can see the rays shooting through from behind the horizon. Where ankles pointed to a bright future of female fashion, ankles might be pointing at a bright future in menswear. I might not be alive for it, but I'll gladly join in with the first baby steps.

Lira Leirner the Portmanteau interviews Teresa de Almaida Cruz for Fashion Mavericks

One afternoon I came across a visionary, exploring fashion designer who studied physics and chemistry in order to understand the fiber and possibilities of fabric manipulation as well as the visual results wanting to be achieved. After a long winding back and forth via email over a couple of months, which turned out to be parallel to the laborious and time consuming process of menswear preparation and creation, we finally found time to arrange an interview.

I encountered a bubbly woman in touch with her male side who seemed in dire need to have someone listen to her. She had discussions and answers for every question thoroughly worked out and was eager to share them, which was great.

Listen to the interview in which we discuss what matters to Teresa when creating, the textile research project she has coming up in Oxford and of course, fashion and creating.

Her shoe designer and model were present as well - ignore the occasional "noise" in the background. Despite months of trying to meet up in advance and double confirming that same day in the morning and an hour before, Teresa decided to not mention that her friend, who is in charge of the studio keys, couldn't turn up so we were located in a cafe nearby. Teresa is still in the process of creating her collection, but here is a little preview of the fitting of the toille, showing you how the pattern of the fabric and garments will look like in the end. Once I receive more pictures I will upload them here, so stay tuned! I'm sure they'll be great.

After the interview I was, which is very unusual, asked about who I am myself and what I do. I guess that shows how relaxed the conversation was but I had also awoken the beast that is the "mother gene" once she discovered I'm a designer myself (I was really planning on not unveiling it), which prompted her to let me know that I shouldn't "give up, but work hard and you'll be happy!" Yes... I'm quite aware of that. Or even worse, having the tendency to attempting to be giving a compliment when they're actually insulting, I mean "lovingly criticizing", you such as by saying "You're OK for a beginner." which is the kind of attitude I only tolerate coming from my own mother - and that's because she's my mother! Anyway, luckily Teresa discovered this only after the interview and we managed to get some great information and discussions about her view on fashion and menswear in particular.