There was a lot going on from the waist down at the Marques’ Almeida spring show Sunday, the first held in Milan after London darlings Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida toyed with many cities and presentation formats.

Peplums emphasized the waistline of lean taffeta tops with barrel-leg pants; panels jutted from both sides of handkerchief dresses; cargo cotton miniskirts came with billowing trains in velvety silk; maxi ruffles edged shantung sundresses; maxi and mini silver sequins decked snazzy evening pants.

“We’re exploring this kind of occasion wear and this more dressy [approach], always with that grungy undertone,” Marques told a clutch of reporters ahead of the show.

“What’s [occasion wear] for, what [customers] need it for, and that definitely changes the way we’re approaching design maybe in a more grown-up way,” she said reluctantly.

Although they refute the idea that Marques’ Almeida has grown up, she acknowledged that the Milan display — a test and try for now — reflects the brand’s evolution. “I think it suits where we are,” she offered.

In the dressier space the designers have been experimenting with lately, they also are trying to find a balance with their underground past, when they launched the brand out of an East London studio back in 2011.

This was indeed a wardrobe for a DIY-minded, club-savvy type who has since outgrown their rebellious spirit.

In the offbeat plaid checks of the asymmetrical dresses, Goth undertone of a handsome black silk bias frock, and grunge spirit of a military green bustier with baggy pants, there certainly were echoes of the brand’s seminal proposition. Even when playing by the rulebook of composure and polite dressing, subtle elements suggested a tougher story, for example in the base layer-like Lycra bodysuit paired with a balloon skirt, the club-ready, high-platform, chunky sneakers under a floor-sweeping slipdress or the scarf-like top wrapped around the torso with a flowing silk frock underneath.

“It is not so put together,” Marques said.