Portuguese Fashion, a Precious interpretation of Sustainability
If there’s a place in the world that worries about sustainability, it’s Europe. And no, we’re not exaggerating. European stores are increasingly demanding sustainable fashion. And they’re not doing it blindly. They do it because young people are demanding it. They are worried about the environment, about people, and are willing to pay more for clothes made under ethical and ecological parameters. Bathed by the Douro river and crowned by Galicia’s estuaries, Portugal roars. Portuguese brands and designers who have a sustainable DNA, have decided to step up.
Portugal has various projects on the table, with which it wants to promote sustainability. Its young designers and numerous fashion brands who want to advance in this area deserve to do so. During Modtissimo’s last edition, the most important fashion and textile fair in Portugal, which took place from February 21st to 22nd in Porto, Paulo Vaz, the ATP (The Textile and Apparel Association of Portugal) General Director stated that technology and sustainability are two major factors in Portuguese fashion brands. These are definitely unique differentiators, perfect sales arguments and, what’s more important, they are very necessary nowadays, given what is happening in our times.
Paulo Vaz advises us to look into the Green Textile Club, a club created for brands who seek to excel in textile certifications and "know-how". It was created by ATP and Citec, the Portuguese textile/clothing R & D center. At Citec, José Morgado, technology and engineering services director, gave us some good news: “We’re working on a project that aims to promote sustainable fashion. You’ll see the results in September”.
Some designers have already gotten ahead. A new generation of young Portuguese people wants to change the way the world looks at Portuguese fashion, a fashion that is more than 200 years old, and which has managed to rise from the ashes of offshoring to reinvent itself. We present below the best sustainable brands that showed their latest collections during Modtissimo.
Misci
Misci is a brand that finds luxury in tradition, in the (im)perfect design of handmade details. That aims to be sophisticated through precision and the perfect cut of its items, right down to the last stitch. Classic, yet audacious. Traditional, yet modern. Misci makes her own interpretation of two worlds, between two different times, between two different pairs of hands.
Its inspiration comes from books. It is amid written words and narrated stories where they find the breath for the first sketch. It’s in the pages of an old book, where they find the inspiration to dream about new stories. Short stories that, with interwoven threads, give life to strong, magical and inspiring women, who guide them while creating their collections.
Pé de Chumbo
Pé de Chumbo is a women's clothing brand, designed by fashion designer Alexandra Oliveira, present in multi-brand stores in more than 30 countries. The brand has been imposing her characteristics, in designing and manufacturing of woven and knitted fabrics, using unique handmade processes. Mixing fabrics, yarns, and transparencies with different textures, creates contrasts of materials and colors, highlighting the details of each piece, is the aim of the designer.
What we love is the way she mix artisanal proccess with new technics.
Katty Xiomara
The brand's philosophy falls within the concept of designer-driven pieces that are aspirational yet accessible, elegant and timeless, sophisticated but playful, ultra-feminine with perfect tailoring, meticulous structures and shapes, bold use of colour and print; for women who are confident in themselves and their style choices, strong attitude, individual style and by with a romantic spirit.
Nazareth Collection
Nazareth Collection is a clothing brand combining photography and fashion exploring beauty, art and culture. The brand presents original photo 360º patterns on comfortable high quality fabrics, for an innovative visual aesthetic result.
At each limited collection the brand brings to life its own theme. With different perspectives and details of iconic places and ways of feeling, every nazareth collection is handmade in Portugal using superior quality fabrics for a comfortable fit and touch. The entire procedure is manual. From photography to the manufacturing of the fabric, from cutting to the sewing, also the packaging.
Some pieces of the last Collection are made in lyoncell, a fibre composed of cellulose precipitated from an organic solution such as eucalyptus. It is 100% biodegrade.
Juliana Gevaerd_Bio
Known for sensitivity in her creations, the fashion designer Juliana Gevaerd presents her first collection of the Juliana Gevaerd_Bio project. In partnership with Natural Cotton Color, the pieces are made with organic cotton, which is born colorful.
Based in Paraíba, non-irrigated production generates savings of 85.5% of the production chain, making the product special and sustainable with the reduction of water consumption and other dyeing components. The first mix of the brand name gets Zeitgeist - 'Spirit of time'. The plots and textures that the stylist encountered in developing weaving with such special yarns made possible pieces with fluidity between basic and conceptual styles.
Roselyn Silva
Inspiration drawn from traditional african patterns, into contemporary design in Roselyn Silva's Collections. Her creations are completely exclusive and each piece is designed in detail, both by merging patterns and through the way in which they’re cut, and use materials of the highest quality, which she purchases in controlled stores in Africa. She’ll be adding ecological fabrics to her next collection.
Manifiesto Moda
Manifesto Moda embraces the avant-garde design with artisanal technics. The result is an awesome collection. Improving the role of clothing as an interface between body and environment, Manifesto Moda (MM) is a Portuguese label with international collaborative synergies that serves as a dynamic platform connecting academia to industry to consumers. The company focus essentially on bio-functional fabrics that interact constructive and innocuously with the skin and the environment, while delivering therapy and dermatological prevention — transforming the clothes into true allies of health and well-being.
