Portugal fashion relaunches with updated format after year off the calendar

Lisbon: Portugal Fashion returns to the scene. The Portuguese fashion event will be held from July 1 to 5 with its 54th edition, after a year of absence due to the financial uncertainty it has been going through for years.

In 2024, the event did not hold its usual appointment, which for decades has been held twice a year, and its organization then recognized the need to rethink the model and seek new formulas for sustainability beyond public funding, mainly from European funds.

Headquartered in Porto, Portugal Fashion now presents itself with an experiential proposal that goes beyond the traditional catwalk format. On its 30th anniversary, the event adopts an immersive and decentralized approach, combining fashion shows, cultural activations and gastronomic experiences in locations such as Douro, Matosinhos, Gondomar and Famalicão, with the Electric Trolley Museum as the nerve center. The strategy seeks to link fashion, industry and territory, and to reinforce the international positioning of the event.

Promoted by the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (Anje), Portugal Fashion has historically been one of the main visibility platforms for Portuguese fashion, along with ModaLisboa, the parallel catwalk held in the capital. Its 2024 break marked a turning point and opened the debate on the viability of traditional formats in a context of inflation, institutional retrenchment and consumer transformation.

The return is part of a new cycle of international projection that began in June with fashion shows in Milan and Paris, and now continues on national territory with the participation of more than 30 designers. The calendar includes names such as Ernest W. Baker, Miguel Vieira, David Catalán, Maria Gambina and Marques’Almeida, who will present his collection next to the Douro. The edition will also host fashion shows by African designers selected by the Canex platform and, for the first time, a delegation from Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the Saudi Fashion Commission. Portugal Fashion will take place in Oporto from July 1 to 5.

The industry of the north of Portugal supports the project. Porto and its metropolitan area concentrate about 96% of the footwear industry in the country, with more than a thousand companies and more than 33,000 jobs, according to data from the Footwear Technological Center. Textiles, together with footwear and jewelry, make up a productive cluster that represents a relevant part of Portuguese exports. In this context, Portugal Fashion is consolidating its position as a space of connection between design and industrial structure.

In addition to the main program, the event hosts a new edition of Bloom, a platform for emerging talent sponsored by Salsa Jeans. The initiative combines mentoring, creative residencies and executive training, culminating in a competition whose winner receives a cash prize, a postgraduate degree at Católica Porto Business School and a paid internship. The space will also host the first edition of its own incubator, focused on strengthening young brands with authorial vision and growth potential.

With this edition, Portugal Fashion seeks to reinforce its role as a tool for economic, cultural and territorial projection. In the words of its director, Monica Neto, “Portugal Fashion wants to continue to be an engine of transformation for Portuguese fashion, connecting design, industry and territory with a vision of sustainability and innovation”.