Events

Portuguese fashion takes centre stage at the United Nations

Sep 7, 2026 Portugal

Representatives of the Portuguese fashion industry will present the sector at the United Nations headquarters on the 10th of September, during an event held alongside New York Fashion Week

The ‘Made to Matter: Portugal’ initiative, organised by the Portuguese Footwear, Components and Leather Goods Manufacturers’ Association (APICCAPS) and the Textile Intelligence Centre (CENIT), with the support of the Portuguese Trade & Investment Agency (AICEP), will take place during the annual meeting of the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network meeting, which will be held alongside New York Fashion Week.

Portugal intends to use this opportunity to showcase an industrial model that combines know-how, innovation, collaboration, quality and sustainability, and demonstrate how these factors have helped to build a globally competitive fashion and footwear industry.

With over 6,000 companies and exports worth more than 7 billion euros, this sector is one of the country’s leading export sectors and one of the most internationally focused areas of Portuguese manufacturing.

Over the past three years, it has attracted more than 200 million euros in investment, supported by Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), through the Lusitano and BioShoes4All projects. These projects focused on innovation, sustainability, digitalisation, new materials, and the modernisation of production processes.

“Presenting the Portuguese fashion industry at the United Nations represents recognition of the transformation our companies have been undertaking”, emphasised César Araújo, President of the Executive Committee of the Lusitano Project consortium.

He continued: “Portugal has a modern, highly skilled and export-oriented industry, capable of combining decades of accumulated know-how with technology, innovation and new environmental requirements. We want to show the world that manufacturing in Europe, and particularly in Portugal, is today a competitive, responsible and future-oriented choice”.

The Lusitano Agenda aims to promote the reindustrialisation of Portugal’s textile and clothing industry through R&D, productive innovation, training and internationalisation activities, with the goal of strengthening the sector’s industrial and technological capabilities and helping to bring strategic components of its value chain back to Europe. These include the ability to produce yarns from recycled and natural fibres and, subsequently, to develop innovative, high value-added textile and clothing products.

Luís Onofre, President of APICCAPS, also highlights the strategic importance of Portugal’s presence: “The Portuguese industry has demonstrated that tradition and innovation are not opposing concepts. We have companies with decades of experience that are now at the forefront of research, automation, new materials and sustainability.

He concluded: “The investments made in recent years reflect a very clear ambition: we want Portugal to be internationally recognised as a benchmark for the new generation of fashion, combining creativity and industrial excellence with increasingly responsible production”.

Within the footwear sector, particular attention will be given to the BioShoes4All project, which aims to transform the Portuguese footwear industry into an international benchmark for the development of sustainable solutions.

Portuguese Representatives

César Araújo and Luís Onofre will join a discussion moderated by The Business of Fashion’s Yasmine Dahlberg on Portugal’s fashion and footwear industry, its approach to quality and sustainability, and its relevance for other manufacturing countries. The programme also includes Annemarie Hou, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships, and Carlos Moura, Director and Trade and Investment Commissioner USA at AICEP.

The initiative will also feature a showcase dedicated to the work, materials and craftsmanship of Portuguese designers, as well as a second conversation focused on the future of the industry, addressing technical innovation, new materials, sustainability and collaboration throughout the value chain. Participants include Joana Duarte, founder and creative director of Behén; designer and entrepreneur Armando Cabral; Maria José Ferreira, Research Director at the Portuguese Footwear Technology Centre; and Kaleigh Tirone Nunes of Petratex.

Overall, ‘Made to Matter: Portugal’ initiative aims to focus on how Portugal’s textile, clothing, footwear, components and leather goods industries are addressing major global challenges through investment in knowledge and technology, with discussions covering material innovation, product durability, process efficiency, circularity and collaboration across the sector.

“Portugal does not simply want to keep pace with the future of fashion; it wants to help shape it. We have the talent, technology and industrial capabilities to turn sustainability and innovation into competitive advantages in international markets,” says Carlos Moura, the head of AICEP’s New York office, adding that “the United States is a strategic market for Portuguese fashion.

Ultimately, this participation will help to raise the international profile of Portugal’s fashion industry, with AICEP, APICCAPS and CENIT/ANIVEC presenting the sector’s approach to quality, sustainability and responsible production to an audience of industry representatives, investors and policymakers.

Source and Image Credits: portugueseshoes.pt

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