NEW DROP: THE BAG

BIO

Trained as a Footwear Design Specialist by CFPIC and as a Fashion Technician by Modatex, Sérgio Sousa is the founder of AREA 8, a brand born out of a passion for design and animals. In a universe architected by the Pro-Techwear imaginary (protection + technical), with clothing for people and animals, the products are designed and produced to order with recycled materials or from dead stock in the north of Portugal. And in order to reduce the ecological footprint, all AREA 8 products can be reused.

Crafting the Bag

Not only did the need arise to make it ecological, with production upcycled from deadstock, but also collaborative. Based on AREA 8's design, the bag includes a small sample from other young national designers: AHCOR, HOUSE OF WILDFLOWERS and MARIA CARLOS BAPTISTA. Produced in limited quantities in black 100% cotton twill, a neutral color that represents AREA 8, the bag contains an extra mini bag, where the four brands were challenged to create a patch that represents them. From this, four different designs were born. - Sérgio Sousa, designer and founder of AREA 8.

BIO

AHCOR, Rocha spelled backwards, is the name of the label created in 2019 by Sílvia Rocha. A graduate of the Porto Fashion School and Modatex, in 2020 she was a finalist in the BLOOM competition and the following year she joined Portugal Fashion's BLOOM platform, where she has been presenting ever since.The AHCOR label is the designer's representation in fashion and also in the most varied artistic areas.Since 2021, she has collaborated with theater projects, developing costumes for shows, sets and decorative objects. The exploration of volumes, the mixing of materials, colors and textures, the use of dead stock are constant in her work.

Crafting the Bag

The AHCOR pocket proposal strikes a balance between the simplicity of the composition and the contrast of the materials chosen. A reflection of the work the brand has been developing over the last few collections presented. - Sílvia Rocha, designer and founder of AHCOR

BIO

House Of Wildflowers was born in 2022 at the hands of Amir Shavit. Born in Jerusalem, Amir moved to Portugal in 2021. A graduate in Fashion Design from Shenkar College, he took part in Tel Aviv fashion week. House Of Wildflowers is a brand produced locally in Portugal, which prioritizes environmental awareness. With a sense of humor and touches of romance, the brand challenges those who dare to experiment. Its roots are born from an enormous respect for the traditions of tailoring, nature and a queer identity.

Crafting the Bag

We present the pattern for our first "V3NUS TR1UMPHS" collection, AW23! We took inspiration from the opulent Rococo era, marked by ornamentalism, a connection to nature and unbridled romanticism, and reimagined these values in a futuristic way, with the help of Artificial Intelligence. We combined Rococo frames with a futuristic ocean landscape, meticulously arranged in a pattern.

BIO

Seeing clothes as art that is worn led Maria Carlos Baptista to study Fashion Design at Modatex. In 2020, with the "archetype" collection, she won the BLOOM Competition. By portraying the dichotomy of positive and negative space that lives within our bodies and the universe, she was invited to present the AW21/22 "negative space" and SS22 "motherland" collections at Paris Fashion Week. Maria Carlos Baptista is a brand linked to the relationship between the body, space and matter. A strong relationship with the body and how we move, how space stimulates and conditions us and the materials we use for protection and performativity, as well as the quality and durability of the garments.

Crafting the Bag

The print chosen is a scan made in 2019, later used in the AW21/22 collection, and it's my hands. It represents my work because I enjoy being part of the whole process of developing the pieces, because it's always something that defines me as a designer and because of my more plastic and experimental side when I create.