Lisbon Fashion Week Highlights Spring/Summer 2025

The Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas describes the biannual Lisboa Fashion Week held in October and March as “a highlight of our city’s cultural agenda…an attraction for fashion lovers and curious alike…a symbol of the culture of our Lisbon: a city shaped by the ongoing intersection of tradition and innovation.”

Founded in 1991, in partnership with Lisbon Municipality, ModaLisboa’s focus is to promote Portuguese fashion design with events throughout the city including fashion shows, exhibitions, conferences and workshops. It has a clear mission of raising awareness in the community for sustainability and encourages emerging talent through Sangue Novo, the Young Designers Competition, Workstation and LAB.

Among the many highlights were presentations of emerging designers at MUDE, the stunning new design and fashion museum, reopened after eight years of major renovations; a radical presentation at a designer’s atelier, a designer popup at a former convent, now the Locke de santa Joana Hotel and live dance and music performances on the main catwalk at the historic Terreiro do Paço, the former Royal palace.

One of the hottest tickets at this edition of Lisbon Fashion week was an extremely buzzy presentation in a basement bar by Constança Entrudo. Not based on trends, the brand is manufactured in Portugal and combines textile research, experimentation and a sense of humor. A graduate of Central Saint Martins (London), Constança Entrudo gained industry experience at Balmain and Marques’Almeida. The brand’s handcrafted, ready-to-wear pieces created from sustainable fabrics like recycled polyester yarns, feature bold digital prints showing how meticulous craftsmanship is seamlessly integrated with modern technology.

Opening with a captivating dance performance, one of Portugal’s most established designers (you can visit his store on the chic shopping street, Avenida da Liberdade) presented strong ready-to-wear SS25 womenswear and menswear collections featuring a variety of looks from fun and vibrant penguin, starfish and seahorse prints to sophisticated separates with delicate bead and glass embroidery. The color palette was equally diverse, ranging from black and white, as well as vibrant pinks, reds, blues, and yellows. And the men’s line combines elegance and functionality with refined cuts and fabrics.

As Portugal is one of the world’s top leather shoe designers, it was fitting that APICCAPS, the country’s shoe association presented a stylish showcase of the latest trends, highlighting sustainable rather than mass produced shoes. The presentation, with shoes from Ambitious, Carlos Santos, Sanjo and others, was accompanied by a unique performance by pianist Máximo Francisco.

Since 2013, when he created his own brand, Luis Carvalho, a former Salsa Jeans designer, has been a constant presence at Lisbon Fashion Week. The award-winning designer has created an easily identifiable look: menswear and womenswear that features classic tailoring with a bold touch. For Round and Around, the new collection, black and grey polka dots were a standout print across dresses, shorts, blazers and overcoats. The catwalk was accompanied by a live music performance by a talented duo.

In a departure from traditional fashion show formats, João Magalhães presented his latest collection “O Preguiçoso” (The Lazy One) in a unique, performance-based installation at his studio. His aim is to challenge the prevailing consumerism that often dominates the fashion world, advocating for a more meaningful and sustainable approach. Visitors watched the designer in a caged off area sketch as he created new designs. The designer created only four new pieces and says “I refuse to make more volumes of clothes until I sell what I have already made. Clothes are not eggs or vegetables. They do not rot from one season to another.”

This collection is a reflection of Bosnian born Lidija Kolovrat’s many years in the Portuguese fashion world (the brand was established in 1990). Her background in cinema and art shines through and no doubt her regular exhibitions of video-art and installations in galleries and museums plays a role in her fashion designs which often feature dramatic silhouettes.

Founder Joana Duarte studied in London at Kingston University, after graduating from the Faculty of Architecture, in Lisbon. An interest in ethical production and working with artisan communities is at the heart of her brand. The focus is on collaboration with craftsmen, ancestral techniques and communities, while investing in technological innovation to ensure longevity. Pieces range from everyday wear to demi-couture made from upcycled materials and natural fibers like cotton and linen, alongside antique textiles. Many garments are embroidered in-house, reflecting the designer’s dedication to artisanal production.

Another well established Portuguese fashion brand, founded in 2013, Hibu creates genderless clothes, crossing multidisciplinary references and a minimal deconstructed aesthetic through a relaxed approach. The latest collection has a ‘90s feel with the use of a mixture of materials, including cotton, faux fur, jerseys, denim, knit, wool and leather. Stand out looks include bold mustard yellow mixed with black lace and baby blue faux fur separates.

Çal Pfungst creates “carewear clothing”, a type of clothing connected and committed to those who try it on. A background in Theater and Fashion influences his designs. In his own words, “clothes from now, borrowed clothes. Clothes from the future, clothes that precede us. Interstellar clothes. Clothes that are good to listen to and that sleep with me. Intimate clothes, sweet clothes. Talkative clothes but that can keep secrets.”

With a background in textiles and fashion design, Bárbara Atanásio worked with well known designers Valentim Quaresma and Marques’ Almeida before launching her eponymous brand. The new collection draws inspiration from the legacy and heritage embedded in family names, using the collective experience of shared DNA as its foundation.

Referred to as the “enfant terrible” of Portuguese Fashion, Dino Alves claims not to care for ready-to-wear. Yet the new collection has many eminently wearable pieces. Trained as a photographer and painter and inspired by the movie world, the “master of cuts” makes made-to-measure fashion that virtually blends with the body, creating a second skin. He’s known for staging fashion extravaganzas during Moda Lisboa and this season was no exception, covering the floor with a thick layer of earth-like material which provided a distinctive contrast to his covetable designs.

One of the most intriguing shows this season was streetwear brand Duarte Hajime’s live construction of an outfit on a male model as he stood on the runway. The pieces made of cotton and linen included prints of four celestial elements a dragon, a tiger, a tortoise and a bird. Ana Duarte, founder and designer, is a professional illustrator with five published books.

Award-winning designer Luís Buchinho has two popular boutiques in Porto. This season’s collection features elaborate and original structures, graphic details and a range of colors and textures to form a composition of dynamic silhouettes that define his chic, cosmopolitan look.