CARLOS MOEDAS
Mayor of Lisbon
Choosing has never been more difficult. We are surrounded by possibilities. In a world where everything seems within reach, the choices we make have become a way of declaring what we value. Fashion has always carried that responsibility. Choosing a garment, a material, a form or a combination is never purely an aesthetic decision. It is an expression of identity. It says who we are and, perhaps more importantly, what we believe is worthy of our attention.
Fashion and luxury have always been closely connected. But luxury is not simply a matter of price or exclusivity. Its value can lie in what is rare: time devoted to an idea, knowledge built over generations, mastery of a craft, attention to detail and the ability to create something that cannot simply be replicated. In a world of excess, perhaps true luxury is precisely what cannot be mass-produced: a vision, a signature, a distinctive language. Something shaped by conscious choices and by work given the time it needs to mature.
It is this human dimension of creativity that matters. Fashion and Design are not simply creative industries; they are ways of thinking about and interpreting the world. They reflect our culture, connect different disciplines and give rise to new forms of expression. And they do so through a particular relationship between tradition and innovation, between what we inherit and what we choose to transform.
Lisbon has long understood the importance of this. Over more than three decades, Lisboa Fashion Week has become an essential platform for emerging talent, strengthening connections between creativity and industry while bringing Fashion, culture and the city closer together. Edition after edition, it has provided a space for new ideas, new voices and new languages to emerge. The choices we make also shape the city itself. We decide what to preserve, where to invest and what we want to pass on to future generations. A city’s heritage is not limited to what it inherits; it also includes what each generation chooses to contribute.
From 7 to 11 October, MODALISBOA PRIORITY returns to Lisbon, co-organised with Lisbon City Council, with a programme spanning different venues and bringing together Designers, industry, critical thinking, culture and the public. At a time when we are constantly encouraged to choose faster, this edition reminds us of the importance of choosing well. Of looking beyond novelty. Of recognising the value of authorship, experimentation, sustainability and continuity. Because not everything we have the means to create is worth carrying forward. A true sense of priority begins with deciding what deserves a place in the future.
Lisbon City Council is delighted to welcome Lisboa Fashion Week once again, and all those who, through Fashion and Design, continue to create, think and help shape our city.
EDUARDA ABBONDANZA
President of Associação ModaLisboa
For 35 years, Lisboa Fashion Week has worked to give talent the conditions to emerge, grow and endure. It is a simple conviction, but one that requires investment, difficult decisions and clarity about what really matters.
Welcome to MODALISBOA PRIORITY presented by OMODA & JAECOO. As with every edition since 1991, it is co-organised with the Municipality of Lisbon, a partnership that recognises Fashion as part of the city’s cultural and economic life. Support from Turismo de Portugal’s Portugal Events programme extends that commitment, creating new opportunities for internationalisation from Lisbon and for independent Fashion to claim the place it deserves on the international stage.
Our priorities are clear. Independent Designers able to build viable careers, not simply gain visibility. A new generation with access to resources, industry and markets. Companies that recognise authorship, knowledge and experimentation as competitive strengths. Sustainability that translates into action. Innovation with purpose. Culture as an inseparable part of the value we create.
We are not interested in replacing unresolved questions with new narratives. The pace of technological change does not make it any less urgent to build economically viable models, reduce impact, preserve skills or make room for research and development. What is new matters when it moves us forward, not when it simply gives us something else to talk about.
Setting priorities is easy. Holding on to them when attention moves elsewhere, when they require investment or when results take time is much harder. That is the consistency we want to stand for: doing what needs to be done, without mistaking change for progress.
My thanks go to the Associação ModaLisboa team, the Designers and their teams, Municipality of Lisbon, Turismo de Portugal, OMODA & JAECOO, our partners and sponsors, and every professional who makes these days possible. They are the people who turn conviction into practice, day after day.
Ultimately, that is what defines a true priority.
