TRENDSETTING from MODAPORTUGAL
by Luca Imbimbo
“Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed – there’s so little competition.” – Elbert Hubbard, writer
Trying to compete with yourself is an act of courage. Competing with others is a way to test yourself.
The thirty finalists of the MODAPORTUGAL contest are quite aware of this and have challenged themselves in the evening of December 19th with “catwalk” hits. Coming from ten different schools and six different countries (LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION / UK, AMD – Akademie Mode & Design / Germany, ESMOD PARIS / France, POLIMODA and ARSUTORIA SCHOOL / Italy, IED MADRID / Spain, ESAD, FA.U LISBOA, MODATEX PORTO and ACADEMIA DE DESIGN AND CALÇADO / Portugal), the designers introduced their collections to a jury of experts led by Eduarda Abbonadanza, president of the Associação ModaLisboa. To welcome the event, the Alfândega do Porto, the suggestive complex that overlooks the Douro river.
Besides the prizes for the winners – just for the record, Zhikai Yang from ESMOD PARIS winning as Best Overall Collection and Stephanie Grosslercher from POLIMODA winning as Best Overall Shoes – all the finalists had the opportunity to get in touch with the operators of the fashion system and with the production partners of the future.
As usual, we have selected three names. These are our three “promises” poised between passion and self-awareness.
Zhikai Yang – #orientalexpress
The 2018 winner’s collection is very direct to China – the one sensitive to changes. It is a mix of craftsmanship and innovation, pragmatism and conceptualism. Natural colors and comfy volumes, all the garments are a tribute to a tradition violently thrown into a measurably contemporary dimension.
Frank Lin – #sartorialdeconstruction
It is a masculine and sophisticated collection. The winner of the Best Collection for Germany deconstructs the classic male wardrobe, bringing it back to a modern essence, credibly young. His customized garments are personalized. His inspiration? The influencers.
Giulia Masciangelo – #materialstripes
The collection of the winner for the Best Collection made in Italy tells us her story. The collection that she presents is fun and reasoned together. It is a complex system of stripes that adorn the natural fabrics and enhance the technical ones in contrast. It is a light, material and concrete collection.
Bershka Spring/Summer 2019 Campaign
VIA Design Graduate Show 2019
Maciej Poplonyk photographed by Arthur Iskandarov and styled by Egor Telenchenko, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online.
Titled “YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE,” the visuals strip away ambiguity, trading fantasy for sharp, cinematic storytelling.
We met Yoon Ambush – Co-founder and Creative Director of AMBUSH – in Paris during Men’s Fashion Week.
Les Benjamins has turned its attention to the tennis court with a new collection that mixes sport and style.
GUESS JEANS has officially arrived in Tokyo, opening its first Asian flagship store in the heart of the city’s fashion district.
WHOLE is a pilgrimage for the global queer community, a temporary world where joy, radical acceptance, and self-expression reign supreme.
Alexis Otero captured by the lens of Lucas Lei, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online.
Levi’s® is celebrating Oasis’ long-awaited reunion with a new collection that combines the band’s iconic style with classic denim.
There’s no bitterness in the heartbreak here, just the sense that longing isn’t defeat, but proof you’re alive.
We had the chance to catch up with Ohio-born, Brooklyn-based designer Kody Phillips in his Paris Fashion Week showroom where he unveiled his Spring/Summer 2026 collection.
Dean and Dan doubled down on their love of fashion’s most dramatic moments, remixing 80s power dressing, 90s grunge, and 2000s excess into something entirely their own.
Gerrit Jacob’s latest collection, GAME OVER, isn’t about surviving the wild but about surviving the grind.
Telekom Electronic Beats (TEB) and 032c are turning 25, and they’re celebrating with a capsule collection and an installation by Harry Nuriev. Titled All is Sound.
Cult Korean menswear brand THUG CLUB teamed up with designer IZZY DU for an unforgettable dinner and afterparty at the mythical Lapérouse during Paris Fashion Week.
Jonathan Anderson has always treated fashion like a carefully assembled collection, mixing the unexpected, trusting his instincts, and binding it all together with a strong point of view.
The Palau Reial de Pedralbes provided the perfect backdrop as IED Barcelona unveiled its 21st Fashioners of the World showcase.
This season, Camper unveils its first collaboration with ISSEY MIYAKE’s Peu Form, designed by Satoshi Kondo.
A collection that exudes freshness, confidence, and a desire to write a new page in the history of the Maison.
“Poison Ivy” tells the story of a transfer student’s dangerous fixation with his school’s golden boy.
Aitor Santomé’s AHOY Diary on Board is a glitter-drenched, holographic love letter to queer joy, fashion, and the magic of the open sea.
Louis Vuitton has introduced its latest Silver Lockit 2025 collection, developed in partnership with Felix, the brand’s Ambassador and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Korea.
The Salomon XT-6 wasn’t made for sidewalks. Born for punishing mountain trails and ultra-distance races, its technical DNA speaks to wilderness endurance.
Stéphane Ashpool has opened Souvenir Pigalle at 17 Rue Duperré, a place built on his memories of growing up in Pigalle.
The book challenges narrow ideas of beauty and masculinity by simply letting men exist, unpolished and unapologetic, across generations.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has opened the Barbara Kruger exhibition, Another day. Another night., curated by Lekha Hileman Waitoller and sponsored by Occident. This exhibition expands her audience and influence while pushing the limits of modern art… »
Forget ironed polos and pristine blazers. Peter Wu’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection is a tribute to the thrifted sweaters, the cut-off Dickies, the flannel pajama pants worn to early morning lectures.
Amsterdam’s Daily Paper has teamed up with Oakley to reimagine the Gascan sunglasses, combining streetwear storytelling with technical innovation.
Berlin’s KitKat Club became the perfect runway for #DAMUR’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection, “Get Wet.”
COLRS unveiled its Spring/Summer 2026 collection “JUMPING FENCES” during Berlin Fashion Week, bottling the reckless energy of a Brazilian summer.
On July 1st at Berlin’s old Tempelhof Airport, BALLETSHOFER staged a runway show that challenged how we dress for travel.
