MODAPORTUGAL is a fashion concept for young talents worldwide focused on two key players: designers and manufacturers. Initiated by CENIT (Textile Intelligence Center) together with ModaLisboa, each year, top emerging fashion design students of eight different countries across Europe are invited to show their most recent collections in front of an international jury.
ModaPortugal started as an initiative with the hopes of bridging the future talents of the fashion world today with the quality of the Portuguese textile productions. Designed by CENIT, ANINEC and partnering with both APICCAPS and ModaLisboa, each year, twenty-nine fashion design students from the most prestigious fashion schools in Europe are invited to present their best designs in front of an international jury.
Starting with the United Kingdom, the list of schools ranges from Germany to Spain, France, Italy and, of course, Portugal, each allowing three designers to showcase three looks from their final graduate collection. The schools represented were the London College of Fashion (UK), ESMOD (FR), IED Madrid (Spain), Polimoda (Italy), AMD – Akademie Mode & Design (Germany), and three Portuguese institutions: Modatex Porto, Fa.Ulisboa and ESAD. Best Overall Collection and Best Overall Footwear Collection (both are awarded a prize of five thousand euros) along with one winner from each country in each main category, were the main awards of MODAPORTUGAL.
Zhikai Yang from ESMOD (FR) was the winner of the Best Overall Collection; he re-interpreted tradition, drawing from his Chinese heritage to produce “wearable garments that speak to innovative and fresh iterations of cross-cultures and globalized design. His act of smoking the garments was the poetic realization of the power of memory and the transformative nature of clothing.”
The winner of the Best Overall Footwear was the Italian Stephanie Grosslercherfor her shoes, named Bottargue.
Artur Dias won the prize for Best Collection in Portugal, a collection called ”Rapture” inspired by adventurous fiction characters .
Frank Lin won the Best Collection in Germany with his beautifully tailored (yet deconstructed) classic menswear. His idea was to confront the traditional designs of tailored menswear with the conceptual idea of finding inspiration in the modern-day muses: influencers.
The two German students Lukas Vieringand Mercel Mentzel showcased their collection Traverse inspired by modern technologies with exaggerated looks and functional sportswear with 3D printed objects made from algorithms to make sure that each design was rooted in originality.
Carolina Koziski from Spain with her collection In The Night was a winner for her country as well. Her pieces were a tribute to all free-spirited women.
Selina Zenker from Germany showcased Undivided Ground collection; her garments comment in opposition to the rise of nationalism and right-wing populism.
Find below the winners Giulia Masciangelo from Polimoda (Italy) and Yelim Cho from the London College of Fashion (UK), as well other backstage highlights. | Photo Credits: Dulce Daniel
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