The 50th Portugal Fashion includes in its line-up 11 Bloom shows, a platform dedicated to new fashion talents. The first day of the event and three shows of the second day will be filled with collections from young designers, and Bloom will even have its own catwalk space: the Ribeira rooms of the Alfândega do Porto. It should be noted that, in this edition, the Bloom platform welcomes national designers but also emerging creators of African origin, under the CANEX programme.
First of all, the return to the Bloom catwalk of fashion school students. This time, there will be collective shows by the Fashion School of Porto, ESAD – Matosinhos School of Arts and Design, Modatex (Porto), Cenatex (Guimarães) and the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon (Fashion Design course). In this way, a unique educational and professional experience is provided to fashion students, thus contributing to their training as designers. Also of note were the shows of the winners of the Bloom Competition powered by Sonae Fashion (now Zeitreel): Marcelo Almiscarado and Maria Carlos Baptista. The latter designer will present a collection created together with her sister Inês Manuel, under the name MARIACARLOS x INÊSMANUEL. Also, the designer awarded with an honourable mention in the same competition, Victor Huarte, will reveal his new collection on the Bloom catwalk, with the brand with the same name HUARTE. The young Spanish creator signed, at the end of 2021, a capsule collection of ten unisex pieces and accessories for Salsa and joins the menswear design team of this Sonae universe brand.
It is also worth mentioning the participation, in a joint show, of the winners of the New Creators Contest PFN, promoted by Selectiva Moda. These are Darya Fesenko (Modatex) and Maria João Cunha (ESAD), who will have the opportunity to present their creations at a major fashion event, in front of their peers and specialised audiences in the sector.
A note also for the return to the Bloom catwalk of the young designer Diogo Van Der Sandt, who had participated in the event in 2020 as one of the winners of the PFN New Creators Competition.
In this edition of Bloom, we have five fashion schools (EMP, ESAD, Modatex, Cenatex and FAUL), nine national designers (Darya Fesenko, Maria João Cunha, AHCOR, Diogo Van Der Sandt, Vítor Dias, Marcelo Almiscarado, Maria Carlos Baptista, Inês Manuel Baptista and HUARTE) and three creators with CANEX support (The Ladymaker, Abiola Olusola and Judy Sanderson). «With so many young designers and schools, once again Portugal Fashion proves the importance it gives to discovering, supporting and promoting new fashion talents and the contribution it has given, over the last ten years, to the generational renewal of the fashion industry», guarantees the event’s director, Mónica Neto.
A reference also to the exhibition “Bloom Talents by Portugal Fashion”, which will open at 12:00 on 18 March, at the NorteShopping Gallery, in Matosinhos. This exhibition brings together creations by the winners of the Bloom powered by Sonae Fashion (now Zeitreel) competition, Maria Carlos Baptista and Marcelo Almiscarado, and the designer who received an honourable mention in the same competition, Victor Huarte, with his HUARTE brand.
