OPEN CALL: YOUNG DESIGNERS COMPETITION

Sangue Novo, ModaLisboa

15 June '26

For the first time, SANGUE NOVO is launching a manifesto, setting out the principles that have guided the platform for over three decades: identifying new voices, fostering authorial creation and supporting the emergence of new generations of Designers.

Movement.
Heartbeat.
Pulse.
Tension.
Friction.
Urgency.
Transfusion.

We ignite SANGUE NOVO, demanding new ways of creating, communicating, opening possibilities and taking up space.

We call for SANGUE NOVO in the way we listen to communities and territories, in collective memory and in the transformations shaping the present.

We breathe SANGUE NOVO, rejecting compulsive speed, empty aesthetics, comfortable repetition, imitation, trends and algorithms.

We cultivate SANGUE NOVO through the process itself, bringing together hybrid references and making room for experimentation, imperfect techniques, mistakes and strange materials.

We embrace SANGUE NOVO in support of an authorial culture where Fashion is shaped with intention, design provokes emotion and thought generates new languages.

We are SANGUE NOVO, a collective project made up of individual voices capable of imagining what does not yet exist.

Miguel Flor, Jury President

Promoted by Associação ModaLisboa in co-organisation with the Municipality of Lisboa, SANGUE NOVO is open to final-year students enrolled in higher education and vocational Fashion Design programmes, as well as young Designers who have completed their studies within the last five years and are currently developing their projects in Portugal. At a pivotal moment in a Designer’s development, and at a time when Portugal is increasingly positioned togenerate brands with strong creative relevance, platforms dedicated to discovering and supporting new talent must respond to the realities of today’s Fashion industry.

This year’s edition introduces several new developments designed to strengthen the connection between design, industry, knowledge and business. The most significant is the new ModaLisboa x IED – Istituto Europeo di Design Award. Replacing the previous model centred on postgraduate studies, the prize now offers access to the Fashion Trend Forecasting and Styling and Fashion Brand Management Summer Courses at IED Firenze. Each programme lasts three weeks and is supported by a €2,000 grant, providing winners with valuable skills in areas such as brand development, positioning and market strategy.

The ModaLisboa x Burel Factory Award remains a key part of the competition. It includes a one-month creative residency with specialised technical and creative mentoring, a €1,000 grant and culminates in the presentation of a collection under the winner’s own name on ModaLisboa’s WORKSTATION platform. Winners will also benefit from press office and showroom services provided by Showpress. Throughout both stages of the competition, participants will have access to materials provided through partnerships with Calvelex/Fabrics4Fashion, RDD Textiles and Riopele.

This year’s jury is composed of Miguel Flor, Jury President; Joana Jorge, Project Director at ModaLisboa; Adriano Batista, Editor-in-Chief of Fucking Young! magazine; Lidija Kolovrat, Fashion Designer; Federico Poletti, Scientific Leader of the Fashion Marketing & Communication course at IED Moda Milano; and Mafalda Fialho, Fashion Designer at Burel Factory.

Applications are open until July 19. Further information and the competition regulations are available here. The selected projects will be presented at the SANGUE NOVO fashion show during the 67th Lisboa Fashion Week, taking place in October 2026.