The 61st edition of Lisboa Fashion Week was held from October 5 to 8 and, like most years, emerging fashion provided us with some of this season’s most thrilling moments. With competitions like Sangue Novo, which has been showcasing the work of aspiring Portuguese designers for nearly thirty years with a strong focus on innovation and sustainability, giving rise to some now well-established figures of the industry such as Miguel Flor, Hibu Studio, Olga Noronha and Duarte Hajime, ModaLisboa has been a powerful platform and ally for young fashion designers.
Along with beautiful presentations of prominent Portuguese brands such as Nuno Baltazar’s homage to ballroom culture or Kolovrat’s Cuban-inspired collection, this year’s ModaLisboa edition proved once again that the new generation of designers was going to be the one leading the fashion revolution in Portugal and bringing more visibility to the country’s fashion scene. Here are some of our favourite ModaLisboa Spring/Summer 2024 collections.
Constança Entrudo
Undoubtedly one of Portugal’s most exciting designers, Constança Entrudo did not unveil her S/S24 collection through a traditional runway show but chose instead to open the doors of her Lisbon studio. On the day of the visit, guests were greeted with a Caribbean-esque steel drum version of Here Comes Santa Claus, played in a loop. Models theatrically roamed around the two-floor space pretending to work on different tasks while wearing the recognisable airy, naïve and fresh designs that became Entrudo’s trademark.
The presentation of the textile designer’s new collection, Burn Out, stages a chaotic heatwave office Christmas party set in a dystopian world where winter no longer exists and tan lines shape our bodies all year long. Traditional office wear is deconstructed and replaced by tank tops and flip flops while everyday disposable objects such as paperclips, ballpoint pens, and Christmas bows are printed on dresses alongside beach motifs.
As explained in the communiqué, Entrudo chose to “combine [the objects] chiefly by happenstance,” creating an association that evokes “the unseen exchanges of everyday life” while offering a sarcastic look on corporate culture and the unsustainability that comes with it. The surrealist apocalyptic scenario contrasts with Constança Entrudo’s playful unwoven fabrics and paradisiac blend of colours that mixes baby blue, cream, and hints of light pink: is this hell or heaven?
Niuka Oliveira
After participating in various international fashion contests and winning one of the first prizes of Sangue Novo in March 2023, Niuka Oliveira introduces Perspective, an introspective, personal and vibrant collection. Here, the São Tomé e Príncipe-born designer ponders on the knowledge she gained from her creative process and on learning how to free herself from the fear of judgment. “This collection is about seeing the things that happen to us differently,” she says. “Working on this collection, I learned to embrace myself differently – everyone is unique and should feel free to experiment.” In Perspective, Oliveira pursued her use of abstract printed patterns – present in her first collection – further experimented with draping and continued her exploration of bright, bold and energising colours.
Filipe Cerejo
Konrad Helbig’s photography book Ragazzi, which explores youth and masculine beauty in the Mediterranean, was the starting point for Filipe Cerejo’s Symposium collection. After winning a prize with Sangue Novo in March 2022, the designer focused on creating an upgraded identity for his brand that involved a strengthened approach to fabrics. Inspired by the intricate details of Ancient Greek statues, Cerejo took traditional menswear pieces such as blazers and sports shorts, and switched the materials to silk, creating a more refined and delicate look. “The way Greek gods move their muscles and the tension that ensues were the key elements in starting to make pieces that stimulate the touch,” he explains. Mixing majestic draped coats, revealing transparent tops and fluid estival pants, Filipe Cerejo offers a sensual and sophisticated take on men’s fashion.
Maria do Carmo Studio
The Maria do Carmo girl is soft, sensual, quirky, and lives by the ocean. For her S/S24 collection, Sangue Novo contestant and finalist Maria da Carmo Studio celebrated all things feminine and summery. Here she chose to reinterpret traditional patterns such as criss-cross and argyle, with a modern new-gen twist and to work with summer staple pieces like light dresses, t-shirts and mini-skirts. Seeing the naïve imprint of the designs and the use of soft colours, we can’t help but think of Constança Entrudo’s influence – whom Maria do Carmo cites as one of her inspirations – and both happen to have grown up in the Madeira Islands and studied at Central Saint Martins. Passionate about honouring her homeland, Maria do Carmo poetically included – as she did in her previous collections – jewellery made out of limpets, an aquatic snail typically found in the Madeira and Azores archipelagos, and a Y2K-inspired touristic t-shirt.
Isza
Another Sangue Novo contestant and finalist, Isza got inspired for her first collection by her routine: splitting her time between Braga, where she grew up, and Porto, where she studied, she found herself spending long hours riding the train and the subway. The movement, the machinery, and the technology behind these vehicles as well as the suspended moments spent waiting for them was the main source of inspiration behind her Dust in My Hand collection. “Everything that surrounds me I feel the need to channel into fashion,” she explains. This translates into beautifully chaotic and futuristic pieces, some of which she designed with the help of upcycled materials and 3D printing technology, where metallic elements meet contrasting textures, lifelike fabric and experimental Rick Owens-esque shapes.
