At Marques' Almeida SS18, both feathers and sequins cropped up in the eclectic collection. In the show notes, the design duo explained: "We’ve been thinking a lot about the expectations on girls and women and everything they're expected to do. You're expected to be great at your job, build a successful career but you can't leave behind your personal life and should be able to have a family and look after your family and look amazing while doing everything, whether you’re a teenager, a mum of three in Mid Town America, a 60 year old retired business woman or an artist... This collection feels so free and so full of different references to so many different amazing women." As Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida so pertinently put it, when women in 2018 are being pulled in so many different directions, fashion ought to be freeing. In such unstable sociopolitical times, we ought to celebrate individualism, energy, creativity and optimism, and our wardrobe can be an instantly gratifying and uplifting outlet for that. Sequins, sparkle and texture offer the perfect opportunity for self-expression, projecting hope as immediate mood-enhancers. It certainly feels timely to turn away from the austere, pared-back designs we adored in the '90s and '00s and revel in sequins and feathers.