The fashion show returned to Alfândega do Porto between March 16 and 19 with a diversified program. The milestone of 50 editions was made of debuts and comebacks, including for the second year the CANEX program, a showroom designed for professional audiences, a live streaming edition and some off location shows.
Round numbers have an increased symbolism and therefore lend themselves to special moments. Portugal Fashion has reached 50 editions in almost 27 years of existence and, in a demonstration of vigour immune to the passage of time, has prepared an extensive fashion program (almost 50 shows), very diverse (young talents, African designers, clothing brands, footwear and accessories, national creators) and with multiple events parallel to the shows (showroom, talks, presentations, cocktails, etc.).
All this between March 16 and 19, in different spaces of the multipurpose Alfândega do Porto but also, off location, in the charming Ateneu Comercial do Porto. It was also possible to watch the 50th Portugal Fashion Autumn/Winter’23 from the event’s portal, in a live streaming edition conducted by Raquel Strada and Hugo van der Ding. Besides the transmission of the fashion shows, there were interviews and backstage reports, as well as thematic conversations in the Thinking Fashion and Waiting Room sections, always with a lot of humor mixed in.
«This is a very symbolic edition, which makes us look at the past with pride and, at the same time, look with great hope to the future of both Portugal Fashion and Portuguese fashion. Therefore, we will provide our partners, our public and especially our creators and brands with a great, great edition». This was what was promised by Portugal Fashion’s director, Mónica Neto, who, with the pandemic clearing up, also guaranteed the possibility to «bring the event closer to the previous molds, in terms of organization, and offer a broader fashion program, with several reasons of interest».
The 2nd edition of CANEX Presents Africa @ Portugal Fashion was present once again, an event that brings together 20 designers of African origin, eight of whom presented their collections in shows (three in Bloom platform and five in the main runway). It is important to remember that the CANEX program (acronym for Creative Africa Nexus) results from a partnership between ANJE – National Association of Young Entrepreneurs, through Portugal Fashion, and the African export-import bank Afreximbank, aiming to promote the African textile and clothing industry in our country.
The CANEX Presents Africa @ Portugal Fashion acts as a development platform for emerging African creators, providing them with the strengthening of skills through mentoring with experts from the Portuguese industry, as well as market access opportunities through specialized support in production, sales and distribution. It should be noted that, in the previous edition of Portugal Fashion, in October 2021, 20 African designers participated in the event, where they were able to showcase their spring/summer collections’ 22 on a catwalk and showroom.
In addition to African creativity, the 50th Portugal Fashion programme had shows of young fashion designers (Bloom platform), clothing brands, footwear and accessories and established creators. Highlights included the presence of Alexandra Moura, Alves/Gonçalves, David Catalán, Diogo Miranda, Ernest W. Baker, Estelita Mendonça, Fly London, Hugo Costa, Katty Xiomara, Luís Onofre, Nuno Miguel Ramos, Miguel Vieira, Pé de Chumbo, Sophia Kah and Susana Bettencourt, among others. The return of Pedro Pedro, a designer whose career is closely linked to Portugal Fashion, and the debut of the clothing brand NOPIN, with the design of the young creator Catarina Pinto, deserves special attention.
To complement the fashion shows and maximize the commercial vocation of Portugal Fashion, Alfândega do Porto also hosted a showroom, organized in a different way from previous editions of the event. In this 50th Portugal Fashion, the commercial exhibition space was reserved only to designers and brands that participated in the shows and was mainly directed to professional audiences, in order to achieve purchases, business, investments and partnerships.
