ModaLisboa Base, co-organised with Lisbon City Council (CML), opens to Lisbon in the first week of October as a cultural platform showcasing designer fashion to diverse audiences, inviting guests to “consider fashion as a cultural and social asset, capable of creating dialogue, recognition and belonging,” said the organisation in a statement, unveiling free, open-to-all events — notably exhibitions, talks, workshops, networking sessions, parties, performances and even runway shows by multidisciplinary brands and creatives.

In this context, Lisboa Fashion Week (LFW) acts as a bridge between creators and the community, proposing that the shows be experienced simultaneously in the physical space of Pátio da Galé, where almost everything happens, and in the digital realm, broadcast via livestream — on LFW’s digital platforms and RTP’s website — and projected across the urban space at the ModaPortugal by CENIT/ANIVEC installation in Praça do Comércio — where the aforementioned historic building stands, which, before the 18th-century earthquake, served as the Paço Real and Casa da Índia — as well as at multiple locations across the MOP network. And much more.

For example, beat by be@t returns to LFW to present its third edition at MUDE – Museu do Design, featuring “four circular and innovative textile projects developed by teams comprising fashion designers and small and medium-sized enterprises”, according to the website, Modalisboa.pt. The partnerships Adriana Oliveira X Cordeiro e Campos, Francisca Campos X AAC Têxteis, Nicole Feliciano X ALLCOST and Luís Carvalho X Cordeiro e Campos will be on view from 1 to 5 October at MUDE.

Also at MUDE, on October 4 and 5, artist, designer and researcher Olga Noronha presents her show, the result of research and an aesthetic study of landscape, form and matter. It highlights “site-specific works and mixed approaches, both sculptural and a series of Lab Paintings ©, the result of the development of new materials in the laboratory to which Olga Noronha has been dedicated since 2018, and which emerge to express the imprecise variations of colour and the blending of senses and emotions,” ModaLisboa explained.

The installation ‘Soil and Loom – From Earth to Digital Weaving’ by ModaPortugal by CENIT/ANIVEC, which will be on display in Praça do Comércio between October 3 and 5, portrays the transition between tradition and innovation in the textile industry via regenerative agriculture, natural dyes and biodegradable materials that intertwine with digitalisation, automation and 3D design, weaving a sustainable, inclusive future as connected to the earth as it is to progress.

On Thursday, October 2, between 7 and 10 p.m., the Adidas X Sportino ModaLisboa Kick Off Party will take place at Sportino Chiado, at 85 Rua Nova do Almada.

“It is a party that symbolically marks the start of Lisbon Fashion Week and launches the collective energy for the days that follow,” the organisers announced, emphasising that the free-entry party is a preview of what is to come.

The following day, October 3, the Lisboa Fashion Week Afro Party, organised by Fourth Avenew and Cold Hearts, extends the night at Botanica 111, located at 111 Rua do Norte. A “fluid dialogue between music and fashion”, in an “immersive atmosphere” and a celebration of designers and musicians of African descent. Tickets are already on sale at Eventbrite.com, priced at €17.89.

Similarly, OFF Lisboa Fashion Week, powered by contracoutura, returns to support emerging talent, establishing links between international creatives and the ecosystem, with the programme still open and to be revealed soon on the website. Highlights include the Wide Shades Exhibition: ‘1st of the Month’, at 80 Rua da Boavista, with a group exhibition and DJ set, installations by Wesley Barros and Hana Vuckovic, ceramics by Patrícia Sousa and a fashion archive showcase.

Between October 2 and 5, Pop-up @ Cyber Café presents emerging brands such as Chaos Kid, Inês Gordo and Nexus Studio, accompanied by DJ sets and drinks, between 6:30 and 9 p.m. On October 4, the programme continues at 21A Rua do Vale Formoso with ‘Brunch contracoutura convida’, which harmonises music and gastronomy at the inauguration of the new space.

Finally, the dynamic, convergent space Fashion House, already reported on by FashionNetwork.com, adds new features to the programme with a performance by João Magalhães, on October 4, at 6 p.m., and new names added to the pop-up store. Open on October 2 from 12 noon to 5 p.m., and from October 3 to 5 from 12 noon to 8 p.m., with free entry, the pop-up features pieces by ARNDES, Bárbara Atanásio, BÉHEN, Dino Alves, DuarteHajime, Francisca Nabinho, Isza X Sara Valdez, Kolovrat, Luís Carvalho, Luís Buchinho, Mestre Studio, Nuno Baltazar, Ricardo Andrez, Roselyn Silva and Valentim Quaresma.