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What if I told you about my first time ?

During my ten Parisian years, I had the opportunity to visit international Fashion fairs like :  Première Vision, Première Classe, Who’s Next… but also Interior Design fairs : Maison & Objet…

Gigantic halls filled with professionals from all around the world to discover new trends, do shopping, look for the rare gem that will make their collection become the most desirable.

Intense days walking kilometers of aisles filled with all kind of trims, textiles, pieces, where we can draw inspiration to be more creative, going so far as to exhaust our eye with accumulation of information. Then we go back home, happy with our findings despite of fatigue, as we know that we found plenty of inspiration to create.

So here I am, last Wednesday, I went to Porto for my very first Modtissimo. The equivalent of Première Vision in Portugal. Very excited with the idea of discovering textiles’ news but also because it was my very first time in Porto.

I wasn’t that far from my grandmother’s place though, but except a few transits in Francisco Sá-Carneiro’s airport, I never had the had the chance to visit this city unfortunately.

So many incredible surprises !!

Alfândega do Porto

It was 9 o’clock when we have landed, Magali, Luc and I for our fashion adventure in Invicta City. We then headed to Alfândega do Porto halls, where the Modtissimo fair took place. A wonderful building in the middle of downtown, along Douro River, surrounded by small houses piled up on the city’s hills.

 

The very first Green Circle by Modtissimo

Let’s go for Fall-Winter 2019/20 trends !!

Let’s not forget that Fashion and trends are created one year ahead. Except for fast fashion (H&M, Zara, etc..), that most of the times gets inspiration from famous designers, only a few weeks are required between the moment we have the idea and the moment  the garment is in store.

But, it is a fact, those very short delays linked with the small offered prices create a dilema : sustainability and quality. As consumers are buying more and more garments/products, attracted by the small prices offered by fast fashion, we are facing a huge waste problem.

As it is obvious that garments with small prices as those we find sometimes cannot be great quality, the garment will lose its shape and get damaged quickly. Lately we don’t take time anymore to fixe things, as it’s often more expensive than buying a new one. Fashion, like other industries, is now facing the duty to look for and offer new solutions allowing a better waste management.

With the global acceleration of industries, and Fashion being one of the most polluting, becoming more eco-responsible turned innately. 

So for the very first time we discover the Modtissimo Green Circle. A selection made of textiles entirely created with recycled plastic bottles fibers coming from the ocean,  or biodegradable fibers ou recycled, promising technologies prometteuses for a milieu thats is always looking for novelties.

By the way, a selection of innovative Portuguese firms had the chance to show their collections in the end of September at Première Vision (Paris). This year Portugal was the special guest.

 

Trends FW 2019/20

At Modtissimo, we had the opportunity to discover the color trends for 2019/20, for a Fashion that becomes more eco-conscious, we could notice a real desire to slow down. The key words are :

Therapeutic Design

The idea is to take it easy, slow down, breathe, meditate, take time for yourself…

Circular Design

The idea is the sustainability, eco-responsibility, fabric recycling, transparency in methodology…

Emotional Design

The idea is to connect with your inner self, with others, to take de necessary time to fully live your emotions…

Inclusive Design

The idea is to promote the individual, the identity, the unicity, independently of the gender…

 

Colors’ Inspiration Fall-Winter 2019/20 from the Fashion Festival Modtissimo’s catalogue.

Sometimes tender, the color cards encourages calm, warm ambiances, cocooning. Sometimes warm and strong, more tonic, the colors cards evokes our emotions and human relationships.

Some colors stay, like sunflower, coper, tonic tangerine, … We will replace the electric purples and violines by darker ones that offer a nice replacement for the classical, but yet sublime, navy blue.

Desire for textures

We could also discover a large selection of fabrics and textures, Nous avons également pu découvrir une large sélection de matières et textures, natural, blended, recycled. A rich selection of textures for a fashion that becomes more exciting, more interesting. You’ll find above a small selection I liked :

 

Porto is a feast

But Fashion wouldn’t be Fashion without feast. My friend Magali, founder of FrenchUpers (a group of happy French-speaking entrepreneurs in Portugal) obviously decided to organize a great event at the very pleasant The Happy Nest, where we have been warmly welcomed by Capucine and Léa, who accepted as an exception to open their cosy coffee house later, just to host us.

A wonderful cosy nest where we imediatly felt confortable and could met fashion professionals, but also from other areas. We could exchange ideas about Fashion but also about our impressions concerning the fair, trends, our fears as entrepreneurs, tips and tricks… FrenchUpers’ meetings are always exciting and stimulant. Once again a successful meeting !!

Enriched by all these new contacts and discoveries, Magali, Luc and I went back to the hotel to get some rest, firmly decided that our second and last day there would be like an inspiration trip in it’s own, like the designers do in the beginning of every collection when the work for prestigious houses.

One is not born creative, one becomes one. Creativity is like a muscle, it should be trained. To create a collection is not as simple as it looks like, a good collection requires a lot of work, but I’ll talk longer about it later.

One day in Porto

We had the great pleasure to discover Porto the day after. Starting obviously with a perfect breakfast at the legendary Café Majestic.

This amazing place opened in the beginning of 1920. It still reflects the Belle Époque with its Art Nouveau style, the huge mirrors, the varnished wood and the marbles. The Majestic Café was the place where intellectuals and artists used to join for a coffee or a drink to exchange ideas at the beginning of the century. They could enjoy the so pleasant winter garden on the back, surrounded by greenery, in the middle of downtown, in the emblematic Rua Santa Catarina.

Paris / Porto

Porto looks actually very Parisian. Perhaps it may be the wonderful Dom Luis I Bridge, constructed around 1880 by one of Gustave Eiffel’s followers. It may be the Art Deco and Art Nouveau style. Or it may be the fact that Porto is a bit grayer than Lisbon.

An extremely inspiring city !!

 

Inspiration all-around

I told you about my passion for azulejos, I actually noticed that a lot of them in Porto are in relief, that is quite rare in Lisbon. Here’s a selection of my favorite, it actually makes me want prints, color mixes, mat and shiny textures right now… don’t you ?

 

Porto : wine, street-art…

Porto wouldn’t be Porto without wine tasting, so we decided to cross the Dom Luis I Bridge while going to Vila de Nova de Gaia, on the opposite side of the Douro River, where we could have a wonderful view over Porto.

You can imagine my surprise when I found right around the corner the incredible Bordalo II’s rabbit. I love it !!

For those who don’t know him, Bordalo II is an artist from Lisbon, who transforms trash in art pieces. We can find his pieces in several countries. His idea by figuring animals, is to raise awareness about ravages our society can cause on nature.

After two inspiring days, feeling more and more eco-conscious, I’ve finally decided. All those colors, all those mixed fabrics, those azulejos, those textures, gave me plenty of ideas for my new project, and it actually motived me to start it sooner expected !!

I’ll tell you more about it soon 😉