INSTINCT MEETS ANDORINE
Andorine is a luxury lifestyle brand for children born in 2015. We love its sophisticated materials, its mysterious universe, its dreamlike stories taking us on different journeys each season.
During Playtime Paris, we were lucky enough to meet Maria Lito, who founded the brand with Luisa Amorim. Thanks a lot Maria for this so nice moment !
Andorine’s SS17 collection
Instinct : How do you imagine your collections ?
Maria : We develop our collection, our own collection : we try to follow trends, colours, of course, but we try to create our own identity. There is a team of designers and Luisa & I coordinate everything. We start with a moodboard where we choose colours, samples of fabrics. Every season is built on a story : for FW17 it is “The Song of Winter”, a sweet tale in Russia.
Instinct : How is structured the work between Luisa and you ? Luisa runs a winery, so how can you deal with both activities ?
Maria : It’s not easy to do everything, so we share the work : I am more into the creative part, Luisa is more into the contact with the agents and the commercial part of the business.
Instinct : You worked as an architect for many years. How does this influence the way you design clothes ?
Maria : As you can see, our designs have a simple architecture : they are pretty neat and accurate in terms of shape. I like to focus on striking fabrics and unexpected details to give the clothes a soul.
Maria on Playtime in front of one of the pictures for FW17 collection + looks of SS17 collection
Instinct : Could you tell us how you chose your manufacturers ?
Maria : We design and produce everything in the North of Portugal. We have all the skills here and the printers are most of the time a lot better than in Asia, so there is no reason we should go elsewhere ! We are close to the factories, which means time saving, less pollution and no taxes to pay due to transport. We visit every factory we work with. We present here our 3rd collection, so we know each other better now and the collaboration is fluid.
Instinct : Is the economical context getting better in Portugal ?
Maria : I think it is, yes. In the textile industry, after difficult years when many production lines were transferred to Asian countries, lots of brands come back to Portugal now because they don’t have quality problems and because it’s easier to follow the whole process from creation to final product. And it’s not much more expensive. The question of price, which was a problem before, is not anymore.
This decision is positive in Asia too because it encourages Asian textile industry in the direction of thoughtful design and production standards raising.
An other positive sign is that although Portugal is not well-known for design, new brands with a sharp design are appearing these times, which draws the whole industry upwards. So I think we are gaining strength again.
Instinct : Do you see any signs of changes around you : are customers more and more asking for sustainable or eco-designed products?
Maria : Yes, definitely ! More and more people are aware of environmental issues and labour conditions, and they know their decision of purchasing or not a product has an real impact. This is not the only reason why people choose Andorine’s clothes -there are many factors of course- but we believe that our way of producing is important to them. We are proud of this.
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