Enzo Peres Perederko, a Brazilian from São Paulo, of Spanish descent through his mother and Ukrainian through his father, is the winner of the new Bloom competition (PWD by Salsa Jeans), benefiting from the mentoring of the Marques’Almeida duo, especially as a final year student at ESAD in Matosinhos.

However, Portugal Fashion’s Bloom, which reveals young talent, is now in the hands of Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida from the British label Marques’Almeida (M’A), who presented their pre-fall and fall-winter collections in Douro vineyards on the first day of the catwalk in Porto.

Peres Perederko walked the catwalk barefoot, handing his boots to a model who was left without shoes by an unforeseen casting event. Let’s face it: a good start for insolently marking his territory by chance (and not exactly by calling attention to himself), “connecting with the land,” as he says he likes, on the catwalk that took him to the podium of the Old Vasco da Gama Canning Factory, in Matosinhos. And where an honorable mention was also awarded to Vânia Oliveira.

Enzo came to Portugal three years ago to study at ESAD and plans to stay in the country to continue developing his label and enjoy the award as the winner of Bloom 2025, which includes a paid professional internship at Salsa Jeans, a postgraduate degree in Fashion Management at Católica Porto Business School, access to technical mentoring, specialist communication advice from Showpress and a cash prize of 2,450 euros.

FashionNetwork.com spoke to Peres Perederko after the show on Thursday, and later at a chance meeting in the atelier of the Portuguese-British duo Ernest W. Baker, who had just arrived from Paris to close the third day of the Portugal Fashion Experience, in Porto’s Corujeira square.

And where it was possible to get a closer look at the wonderful, well-finished tailoring that the Porto brand has been accustoming us to, including the introduction of a new color, green, as well as patterns with flowers and zebra stripes, Inês Amorim, whom her partner Reid Baker favors for interviews, told us during the event.

Fashion Network: Do you have any plans for after this award you received as soon as you finished your degree?

Enzo Peres Perederko: For the time being, I want to do the next collection and manage the award at the same time, in Portugal. But I’m open to all possibilities.

FN: Also with your feet on the ground, like at the end of the show?

EPP: I bowed with my feet on the ground because a model had to wear my boots. The casting was changed and a size 42 model came in and I only had women’s shoes. I had to give up mine and went barefoot.

FN: Did the model belong to this collection?

EPP: Yes, they are boots that belong to this collection.

FN: So are you going to stay in Portugal?

EPP: For the time being, yes. I’m open to opportunities. I go where my intuition takes me.

FN: How long have you been in Portugal?

EPP: I came three years ago to finish university. I just finished my degree at ESAD.

FN: Why ESAD?

EPP: In Porto, it was the only school that had a degree in the area and I needed a university that would give me residency and it was the right fit.

FN: How important are these competitions for young designers to Enzo?

EPP: It’s a driving force. For someone who’s always had this dream and this desire, it’s very important because they present us with a fashion show with an autonomous professional team, and we just worry about the clothes and bringing an interesting image and getting the idea out there, as well as networking.

FN: What are you looking forward to now?

EPP: I have a very interesting message to say. As I said before, I consider myself a clumsy, out-of-place person and I think that fashion is my comfort point. Now, with the award, I’m going to make the next collection. This was “Genêsis 01”, now I’m going to do “02” and so on.

FN: And what is the inspiration for this collection?

EPP: It’s the origin. I looked for origins in classic pieces of men’s and women’s clothing. I like to play with androgyny, and it’s the origin of deconstructing and re-constructing these pieces that are all unconventional. They can be worn in different ways and I look for this questioning in myself when making the pieces. Taking a shoulder off here and putting it on there, playing with creativity.

FN: Have these influences always been around?

EPP: Yes, I’m from São Paulo, a fashion city. The influences are always there. In Brazil, clothing is very different, people dress differently, there’s no winter and I’m fascinated by new things. I’d never worn a classic coat in my life before I left Brazil. I’m fascinated by clothes and it’s all very new to me. I’m deconstructing and making my universe in my own way

FN: How many looks did you present?

EPP: I presented five looks, although the collection originally had eight androgynous looks.

FN: What did you choose in terms of fabrics?

EPP: Classic tailoring and shirting fabrics. I used cuts that aren’t very traditional for tailoring and shirting, I also used denim from Troficolor, which wasn’t sponsored but the denim is fantastic. I get a lot of materials from stocks. They’re not always Portuguese, so I explore.