Made to Matter: Portugal | Goals Lounge

Distinguished colleagues, friends, welcome to Gull's Lounge. It's a pleasure to welcome you to Made to Matter Portugal, the first session of the 2026 Annual Meeting of the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network. We are gathering at an exciting moment for the industry. After all, it's New York Fashion Week, when the spotlight is firmly on what's new and what's next. But today, we would like to shift the focus slightly and ask a different question. What is made to last? Our partner, Portugal, offers a powerful example. Its fashion and footwear industries have built craftsmanship and technical expertise, all while continuing to invest in innovation and more sustainable ways of producing. And that matters because building a more sustainable fashion industry is not only about creating something new, it's about valuing what's already works, local skills, resilient value chains, collaboration between generations. All this to make products designed with quality and longevity in mind. These are not only questions for Portugal, but for everyone everywhere. At the United Nations Office for Partnerships, we see time and time again that lasting change happens when we work together with governments, designers, innovators, and of course, communities. We can turn shared ambition into practical action. That is what the UN Fashion and Lifestyle Network is all about. And now, before we welcome our incredible moderator, Yasmin Dalberg to the stage, let's get a peek into the network.

So when it protects environment and protects people, then you can really say that culture is regenerative.

Everybody can be an agent of change. Everybody can contribute, and there is no action too small. Let's build a better planet together.

Hello, everyone. Thank you all so much for joining me today in person and on the live stream. My name is Yasmin Dahlberg. I'm a content strategist at The Business of Fashion, and I'm so excited to dig into today's conversation, which is all about Portuguese fashion, craftsmanship, innovation, and longevity. And I have two very special guests with me today who have really been part of shaping Portugal into fashion and footwear hub that it is today. So, thank you so much for joining me, Cesi Araujo, President of ANIVEC, and Luis Onofre of APICAPS. Thank you.

Thank you.

Cesi, I would love to come to you here first for your expertise. What would you say defines the Portuguese fashion and footwear industry today?

Traditional, innovation, flexibility and generation to generation. Means Portugal, our sector is family traditional, pass from fathers to sons. I make example of that. My grand grandfather was a tailor. My grandfather was a tailor. My father was a tailor. I believe I'm the teller from the new world. And I have my son over there. He's the five generation. What I want him to continue with this traditional means fashion is traditional and now and people.

It sounds like this tradition that you're describing is a really big part of Portuguese identity. Luis, I'm curious, what do you feel has given Portugal its competitive advantage that has really allowed the industry to succeed on a global scale?

Actually, I think there are three themes that are really important. Resilience, I think we are extremely resilient in all the way. Resourceful, because we managed to have the ability to produce in a short period of time with the difficulties of materials that sometimes they don't exist. And somehow we managed to find solutions wherever they are to be able to respond to our clients. And then we are a little bit stubborn in the middle. So this three combination, this power three combination allow us to be very successful in terms of industry, not in fashion in general, shoes industry and also for garments.

I think another word that comes up, if we can add to those three, is craftsmanship. I'm curious, Luis, how would you say that craftsmanship fits into the Portuguese story and identity? What role does that sort of combination of traditional skill and innovation play?

I think we don't have too much time to talk, but I think I would like to rewind a little bit to the 15th century, where we started with the Renaissance. where Portugal were, I don't know if you know this, but we were controlling half of the world, the other half with Spain and Portugal. So we were able to, fortunately, to be presented and represent a lot of countries like China. We brought some of the silks from China. We worked with the embroideries from India, passing through Africa, from Brazil. So you can imagine when this raw material arriving in Portugal in those days. It was amazing, it's overwhelming. And so we started to be creative and the craftsmanship was incredible in terms of everything. So going a little bit further, in the 17th century, we had a Portuguese Marquis, de Pombal, that expelled the Jesuitas. Jesuitas was a part of the Christian world. They have all the knowledge, they have the know-how, the know-how of craftsmanship, the well-being, and he expelled them. So I call this the dark period of Portugal because you can, I don't know if you know, probably you know where they went, these Jesuits. I think everybody knows, to Italy, to Florence. But we still, we remain with this ability of being resourceful. when something misses, we get the chance to change ideas in order to put a good product on the table. So this is our goal. And also the generations after the the dictatorship that we have in the 70s, we have the fourth generations of producers like Sessatol and it's quite remarkable what they have, our fathers, our grandfathers, and now we are in the world, in the global world, and we have to be prepared on this venue.

Thank you for that. It seems like the history really seeps into the way Portuguese manufacturing and creativity plays out today. I would love to bring in the sustainability angle a little bit. I'm curious, based off of what you said right now with the history, how do you feel like that plays into the themes of longevity and quality and durability that really define the Portuguese model? Maybe both of you can answer that.

Now, fashion change. A fashion cannot be a sustainable product. A fashion needs something to have a story, to have a heart. We need to do better, less, better, and what make the people feeling comfortable. Normally we say in the past, our industry is 4.0. Not anymore. Our industry gonna be for you. We gonna make garments, people by people, not garments with quantity, because we need to be sustainable. We need to create a circular economy and we don't have a planet B, we have a planet A. And everybody say our industry is the most pollutant industry, the second in the world. For that, it's our responsibility to make that change. And Portugal is in advance because our ecosystem is strong, is family, and we are prepared to do that change. Because when we speak about sustainability, it's not only the name, it's always the ecosystem we want to create. And we believe next year, Portugal gonna be one of the most sustainable country to make garments.

I like that. There's no planet B, just planet A. Luis, how does that resonate with you?

I agree with Cesar. So we have to support us in the work that we have been doing, not only the past years, but for a decade or more, which we are in this matter, so important matter that is sustainability in all the way. So it's not only the environment, it's always the conditions that we do with our workers, the philosophy of the companies that change in terms of so many variables. So this is something that it was difficult to impose, we had to impose in those days. Regarding 15 years ago, it's something that, well, Luis, you have to to, we're gonna take longer to do this kind of product if we go in that way, in this direction. But it was difficult to implant in the heads of our colleagues and our workers to manage to think like this. But right now it's something that is normal. So it's getting normal, it's normal to have this kind of approach, the people always searching for new products in the glues, for example, we are not so polluted like the garments industry. But still, we have several hundreds of materials that compose the shoe. So some of them probably are some part contributes for the pollution. And this is something where we have to to be very capable to understand which kind of product we have to put in the shoe. Also the designers. The main issue here is the designers to create products that looks good, luxury, if we want to be a niche of market, if we want to be able to produce something different with the extreme quality, we have to ask if the products, the raw materials that are being produced, are they correct to produce these kind of things? This is a question I take here to everybody that is here today. We have to think about especially the raw materials that we use must be combined with our needs to continue a collection, for example, brands that exist for hundreds of that they want to keep their DNA. So they need desperately the materials that are really sustainable, for example, the leather. leather is a product that it's used to, we don't kill the animals anymore to produce shoes or to produce leather. So this is something that we are going to take from the normal food chain. So this is the way of thinking, the way of making products that will last forever.

I would love to end on something actionable for our audience. What would you both say are some of the key lessons from Portugal that other countries can emulate and adopt?

One good things, not only one, we do a lot of good things. We invest on the people because everybody knows this industry, they have traditional, but we want to tap the young people. because these young people only come to us if we invest them and if we involve all our employees in what we are doing. It's not only sustainability, it's involve the people. But one good thing is we know we are a pollution industry because we know we need to change. And for that, It's not to say, "Ah, you have a factory, and then you are bad because you pollute." No, no, no. We know to pollute, and in the next five years, we need to change. Another thing is important is natural fibers. Portugal make one huge project called Lusitano. Lusitano, we create materials based on the new fibers, like linen. and from the linen in Europe is the big producer of linen but we don't have any factory who spin that fiber. Portugal make the big factory to spin linen because we want a real economy of circular and the real economy of circular needs to start of the designer, eco design. Why if I look for this jacket, this jacket is not designed to be But the future is a combination between the designers, the manufacturing and the buyers. We need to create from the beginning products can be sustainable and recycled. But this is what we are doing because we are in love with this industry. And every garment comes from outside of Portugal. Don't matter if it's garment or shoes, that comes with a heart. We love to making garments. and to make fashion.

With passion.

Yes, with love. And this is what we need to bring the young people, to be in passion. Because, and this we can pass to other countries, to other people, involve the people is the most important. Don't exist anymore one person make everything, no, is a team. And Portugal make this very well. We have a team of people who are in love to make fashion.

Passion for fashion, I love it. Luis.

He said it all.

He said it all. Anything you want to add? A final sentence.

No, I have to be a little bit more serious in terms of something that really concerns us. Most of the production in the world 98% of the shoes are made in Asia. So this 2% is made in Europe, on some countries' side. But we have to use, if we still exist, it's because of something. It's because of that heart that as Cesar talked so well, this heart, this passion to make things and to try to make something different. And probably the sustainability is one of our biggest guns, our biggest, let's say, tools that we have to endure in time. And I think this is really important to these new youngsters to understand that this is the way doing, making something special, different. The sustainability has to be also with making things locally, not globally. So this is also something that can help us out in the future and doing things with the craftsmanship really well done. I believe, for example, the robotics are going to, everybody's concerned with the robotics. We are not going to produce anymore. in 2030 there will be no more works for the people. I'm not so sure about that, to be honest, especially in the fashion world. We made a study with Ernst & Young three or four years ago regarding this issue. So it will be acceptable for the fashion users to accept something that is made with a robot. Initially, it will be fantastic, overwhelming, but then it's like the music that you hear from AI. In the beginning, it was fantastic. Who is this voice? But then you realize that it was not real. And then for some while, you are surprised, it missed some humanity here. And this is I believe it's going to be a great value in the future. People that can, artisans that can make real things happen with their own hands. And this is the biggest value that we'll have in the future for sure, for the luxury segment for sure.

Thank you both so much. I think that's a great note to end on. Thank you. I know we're about to have a little quiz behind us. Yes, I can read it out loud. We would love for our audience and the live stream to give their best answer. Which renewable and sustainable materials are used by Portuguese designers? A, cork, B, leather, C, linen, D, grapes and winery waste, E, fishing line. What do you all think? You're cheating. It is all of them. Thank you both so much. I would love to welcome our next speakers to the stage.

Thank you all. Thank you.

Thank you. This Next segment is going to move us from the macro to the material, really giving us the opportunity to take a closer look at the work itself. I'm joined by two designers whose practices are deeply rooted in Portuguese craftsmanship, Armando Cabral of his namesake label and Joana Duarte of Behem. Thank you both so much for joining me today. Okay, so I know both of you have brought pieces to share with our audience.

I didn't bring a piece.

Oh, you didn't bring a piece?

No, I share pictures and videos.

Okay, that's totally fine. Well, maybe, Joanna, we can start with you. Could you maybe just tell us about your brand and the piece that you brought with us today? Maybe you could start with the material or the story behind it.

Yeah, so actually, I have a few pieces that you can all check after, but one thing that I can say about all of them is that they were all created with a purpose. And when I started Behan, very naively, a few years ago, I had this mission of how could you work with Portuguese crafts that are almost extinct, as many European crafts, I would say, but how could you work with them within the fashion industry, and how could you bring the new generation and So they can relate to the pieces. So that's how the project started. We work with artisans all over Portugal with many different techniques. And yeah, basically that's been a rollercoaster. Should we hold some of them up? Yeah. So this is all hand embroidered by myself because I come from a family of many generations of embroiders. And yes, I embroidered this one. It was a lot of work, all with glass beads. That's one thing that at the project is very important. We only use like 100% linen, 100% cotton, 100% wool, glass beads, so no plastic beads. So it's very complex, especially for such a small brand and based in Portugal, it's a challenge. And then you add the crafts, which is another layer of complexity, but yeah, it's been a journey.

Beautiful, I assume what you're wearing is also your piece, gorgeous. Armando, could you tell us about the piece that you didn't bring with us today, that you're showing us on the screen? I can close my eyes and imagine.

There are many, I just couldn't bring them. But no, I wanted to bring some of the samples and collection that we developed in Portugal. And I have to tell a little bit of a story. I'm from Portugal, I started my footwear brand about 16, 17 years ago. an initial idea was to produce in Portugal, but it didn't happen in the beginning because I left Portugal when I was 18 to London to study. And then from there I moved to New York, even though I was in the fashion industry, but I did not know people in the production side like I know now. This guy here was very important. And so, you know, we started our production in Italy, but My goal was always to produce in Portugal. And in fact, I went. There was a trip I went to Portugal and I visited. And I found some incredible, incredible productions that even as of now, we actually restructuring all of our production to kind of move our production to Portugal. So I was going to bring you some stuff from Portugal. But I think most people here have seen some of my stuff that we produced in Portugal.

When I was researching you and your brand before this conversation today, it sounds like you really started this because you also saw this gap between loving footwear and like wanting to afford it at a luxury level. I'm curious, how do you think about that balance today, especially between craftsmanship and accessibility while still wanting it to feel luxurious and high end?

That's a great question. I think the balance really relies on you know, what value you want to provide to your customers, you know, and today, I think luxury can mean anything to many people. But I think for me personally, luxury is when you honest with your product, and is done in a way that, you know, not only you providing value for your customers, but they can see the whole process. And you know that you know, you're not cutting corners. And I feel like most of the brands today, especially the big brands, they're lazy. They can use huge margins to call their products luxury when they're cutting corners in certain ways. And, you know, for me, I think the balance is really about the product, the honesty of how you produce your garments or product. and the value you provide in terms of the cost related. And as you said perfectly, when I started my brand, I was a fashion model, modeling for Hermes and all these guys, but I couldn't afford the shoes when I first started. But because I have a business background, that's my academic background, I thought, well, there's an opportunity here, I wanna do something, and so that's how I started brand, and it's like, okay. Not compromising the craftsmanship, that has to be there, because that's what I love, that's what I know, but the price needs to be justifiable. And I think today the consumers are very savvy and they're very smart to know that you're charging a product just for the sake of charging it because you can. And I think for us, that's what I will want to continue to bring to our customers, that honesty of production. And Portugal provides that, you know, I must say that, you know, For many years, Portugal, this is not a criticism, but I think it's a great work that has been done that I really love to touch upon. For many years, people in industry knew Portugal as an option B for cheap labor or lower product price, sort of like a production. Fast forward, based on all the great work APICAP's been doing, people are now knowing Portugal for what they're really good at. It's an heritage country with a great production over how many years, hundreds of years. And, you know, most of the big brands are producing now in Portugal. And, you know, you have these family owned businesses that, you know, it's true to them. And I think out of that come also luxury and authenticity, which is, you know, what Portugal provides.

Thank you for that. I agree. I think consumers are becoming extremely savvy and very frustrated if they don't feel that the craftsmanship or the product and story that they're buying into matches the price. Joanna, I want to come back to you here for a moment because sustainability and working with local artisans is really central to Behn's identity. And obviously a big part of this panel today is talking about longevity and sort of what you mentioned, almost like cost per wear and whatnot. But I feel like for you, that almost means something different because it's beyond the garment itself. It's also very much about keeping those artisanal techniques alive. How has that shaped your design process?

I think for me, I studied in London, and so during my...

Because you both studied in London. Yeah.

I'm just meeting her. But in London, it was very important for us as designers to have this responsibility of solving problems, at least in my school. And so for me, it doesn't make sense to create or to put like clothes out there without them having something. Obviously, it's important for me to think about design because again, the younger generation really needs to look at them and think that looks cute and they want to wear it. So that's the goal, design first, but then if you look closer, then you see all these details and the symbolism and the techniques and all the women that are also involved in the process. Because in the end, the story of the embroidery is almost a history of women as well. And I think it's also my mission to find ways to how do you change that perspective with crafts, that they can be cool and tell a different story, I would say, because many times it's associated with domestic work. And some people who don't know how to do them, or if you don't have someone that is closer to you that knows how to do them, you don't really understand the skills that you need to have to do this. The manual labor. Exactly. So I think the first step is to recognize crafts and the women that still know how to do them. Like, you know, it's just not work that they do before dinner. And, you know, it's something else. It's art. And it needs to end in the end. It's It takes a lot of time, and time is the biggest luxury, in my opinion. So I think the pieces in the end need to represent all of that. So my design process is, yeah, it starts with all of that at the same time.

No, beautifully put. For both of you, just as sort of some final reflections, based on what you're seeing in the market, how do you think that designers and the fashion industry at large can move towards a more sustainable future, however you two may define that within your own brand?

I think, honestly, I don't know. I think that word frustrates me a bit because sometimes people think because you're a small brand, you are automatically sustainable. And in many cases, that's not true. I think in the end, it really depends on your own values, I would say. And if you don't have them in your core, I don't know. I just hope it shows when you put all of that effort. hopefully, I don't know if it does, because it's a very aggressive industry, that people recognize that effort. But yeah, it's a word that sometimes, the same with crafts. Crafts is also a very complex subject, yeah, especially nowadays, because all brands love crafts and the craftsmanship and et cetera, but it's, yeah.

I agree with you.

We can do another talk just about that if you want to.

Amanda, your thoughts?

Well, in my case, when you speak about shoes, it's tough because leather is primarily what you make shoes of. But there are a lot of ways that we personally trying to consider to implement in our production. You have vegetable tanned leather. With the process of making that, it's a little more you know, less chemical, for example. This is one way, you have alternative ways of using fabrics, which we have used in the past. One of the projects that I had initiated in Portugal, which is still standing, is to actually use sort of a wool from Portugal that I think everybody in this room would know, that is called burrel. you know, from the sheep from a particular region, which I think these are all ways to kind of talk about sustainability without really forcing the word sustainability into the business. Because I think this is what you're referring to. A lot of times people or brands want to use the word sustainability just so that they can fit in. But it's a process. It needs to be embedded into your whole process from design concept to materials that you use the authenticity, where the materials come from. I think all those processes, what sustainability is, because we're fighting something that, you know, we're saying that, okay, we don't want to contribute to all of the bad things that we adding to this beautiful planet of ours. How can we minimize that? By you shift your view within the process. So it's a process that start from zero all the way up.

Yeah, holistic approach.

Holistic approach, absolutely.

But it's still a business and it's still made of itself. It's still a business, right? But it is a balance that, I don't know, like how can you find ways to tell your story and to have an impact, a positive impact with the people that you work with, either if it's artisans or the factory, the suppliers, but how can you just then, if you put something out there, then it's, I don't know, the best you could do.

Right, and finding the ways that you can scale and grow in a, for lack of a better word, sustainable way. Thank you both so much. This has been wonderful. Thank you. I know we have one more quiz. Sorry. One more quiz, okay, for everyone in our audience and on the live stream. When was Lisbon Fashion Week established? A, 1991, B, 1997, or C, 2001? Please take a seat. A, okay. Today, sustainability is a core component of the Lisbon Fashion Week, which launched its Sustainability Principles Charter in 2023. The more you know. Thank you, everybody, for-- Thank you. for our final conversation, I want us to look ahead at the innovation, the sourcing, the collaboration that is going to define the next chapter of this industry. So I'm joined by Maria Jose Ferreira, Director of Research at CTCp and Kayli Tirona Nunes of the Fashion Catalyst. Thank you, ladies. Maria, I would love to come to you here first. What should we know about the innovation that is driving Portuguese fashion right now?

First of all, good afternoon to all of you. Thank you for being present. For me, it's really a pleasure and an honor to be here in this institution, in this conference. Regarding what we should know about the innovation--?

Speak up a tiny bit.

Okay, I will talk.

I know, I'm trying to project as well.

First of all, we are a connected value chain in the footwear industry. So this is distinguishing us. So innovation is happening in all the stages of our value chain. meeting from not only in the final product, not on the show itself, but in the materials, in the components, in the technologies, in all the process. Also, I would like to stress that we have a very good example, and we are showing some of the results over there, that is BioShoes for all project that is engaging 69 partners, 50 art companies, 20 art research institutes, And you have here some--

You can hold some up.

I will show this one first, but you can also please help me.

Of course.

What you are seeing here, just because you show it, is what, as the name says, BioShoes for all. It's about biomaterials, and not only, but also. And here we have a vegetable tanned leather produced in Portugal. a rubber sole with cork. And thank you so much. And now we have a ladies shoe that has leather, complete the whole shoe is leather. In terms of the project, we also address sustainability from the point of view of circularity. And in this particular case, you can have this shoe completely recycled because all the components are leather and vegetable tanned leather. In this particular case, we are going a step forward, meaning that we are trying to use these biomaterials, these bioresources are wastes. As already we said, leather is a waste from hides from the food industry. And the tannins, the chemicals that we are using to stabilize these materials, to transform hides to leathers, are from wastes in this case. from pine tree bark. So in Portugal, we have a lot of pines, and this bark is released to the forest. So we collect this bark that is a waste, and we transform it in a chemical that stabilizes the leather. In this bag, particular bag, we are using something that maybe all of you, you drink every day. You take coffee, there are coffee grounds, wastes, so we are using these coffee grounds to produce tannings that are used to produce this bag. This bag is tanned with coffee grounds. And we designed this bag, thank you, Jasmine, in order that is monomaterial, only lines. So the leathers and the products are developed together in this ecosystem, in this value chain. So the leather companies and the leather goods and footwear companies are joined at BioShoes and we are doing materials that are really specific for the kind of design that designers like Luis create. And this one is compostable, so it is recycled by composting. You take the coffee, you have the coffee grounds, and then we take your coffee grounds, reduce the leather, you use the leather, and at the end, we compost, and you can compost it at home. And this is the final material coming from it. So I just bring in one example that joins circularity. And of course, we have these 69 partners. We have research, so we have science. And you see, like leather, that is a very traditional material, joined with science. we can have different products and global circularity. So thank you for helping me.

Of course.

What a beautiful and vivid description here.

I was going to do it in a different way, but you were perfect.

I like seeing it at the same time. Thank you. Okay, you painted this really vivid picture of the materials. Kaylee, I want to bring in the manufacturing side a little bit. Based of what Maria has said, how can we scale this kind of innovation in materials and technology?

I think very much to Maria's point, the innovation's there and Portugal has a, it's ready to scale or it's already scaled. What's missing is demand. What's missing is brands buying into it. What's missing is, you know, us being able to sell the products or, you know, these type of solutions to the brands themselves. And I believe that, you know, we're getting there slowly, the more the innovations are available or marketed to brands, but we're still seeing a bottleneck at pricing, which I think can also be worked on. But I think how we could potentially start moving the tipping point is if our, you know, teams in the manufacturing facilities that are responsible for sourcing, that work with clients on a day-to-day, that these people also are ready to sell our innovations to the brands themselves, because really they work with them every day. They have very close relationships with them and they could support in shifting the needle. So I think that that's one of the things that could start getting us there. But in general, it's, you know, we need pressure from all sides. We need pressure, as we're seeing now, more from governance, more from the consumer. And it's That's a slow process. We're seeing much faster developments in Europe. America is lagging for sure.

I think also on the one hand, it may be a lack of demand, but I think it's also a general lack of awareness where people maybe don't know what other possibilities there are outside of producing what Luis said was 80 or 90% of footwear in Asia, right? Kaylee, staying on that point a little bit, I feel like when we talk about manufacturing and sustainability, it's often framed as requiring some sort of trade-off, whether it's between cost or performance or even manufacturing time. Is there anything that you're seeing on the ground that really challenges that assumption?

Yes, absolutely. you know, you look at sustainability, you think, okay, the quick, fastest way I can get there is if I adopt sustainable fabrics or if I find a second life for my products. But it's much higher than that. Actually, to Louise and Carlos's point earlier, it starts at the design level. It starts at the planning level. It starts at, you know, how well do you know your customer and what they want and what the future is of the products that you're creating and how can you better plan to less waste. So I think that if we actually trade off earlier on and plan in advance better, we can create budget for what's now still expensive so that in the future, what is expensive and what is already there can become more accessible. So it's really like shifting patterns to get there, in my opinion.

like the both of you sit on, you know, different parts of this whole story. I'm curious, Maria, if you zoom out of the ecosystem as a whole for a moment, why would you say that the collaboration between manufacturers and researchers and brands are so important?

Because When we innovate, we have, let's say, research results at university institutes, and we need to transform these results in something that is industrially applicable, that is valued by the consumers. And you cannot do it alone, so you need researchers to give knowledge and develop the materials or technologies. You need the designers to create some designs that consumers will adopt, we want, we'll design. You need the production person that they know how to produce. You need the brands and you need the consumers and you need them together. That is the, we are need to drive what we have been doing. We research, we have the industry, and then we try to sell to the brands. and try to give to the consumers. No, we need to first understand what technology and knowledge can give us, coupled at the same time with what consumers need, want, desire, and what the brands with their studies understand that go to the market. Because innovation that stays, that is not sold, that is not going to consumers, is not innovation. That is one point. So this collaboration is fundamental. of course, that we may need some stimulation and, for example, governments and policies, they can drive or stop innovation and sustainability. Also consumers, the word maybe educate is not the best, but just to let you know that we need to to make consumers aware of what is the content and in a way that they can really understand because they are not technicians. If you talk to me about AI, I know how to use, but I don't know the techniques of AI. I know the techniques of chemistry or materials or environment. And this knowledge is fundamental. Of course, that We need also to be transparent and clear. And here today, we talk about sustainability, many words, many times, many was mentioned. It's biomaterial, it's recycled, it is whatever, but this may be or not sustainable. And we need to show the consumer and the brands that is truly sustainable. And to do this, we have to use tools that are available, like life cycle analysis. These are scientific tools that we can use to measure truly sustainability. When we say that we have less carbon footprint, it's measured. It's not something that sustainability means using less resources, less water, less energy, having less carbon in the products. release less chemical substance, having less fossils, and all this can be measured. So we need to move from claiming sustainability to evidence that we have sustainability. And this will allow the consumers to make the right choices. And so I believe that in Portugal, we are in this direction because we are developing these products based in these tools. Life cycle analysis is here in the States, is in Europe, is worldwide. And also, chemicals can be measured. The quality, the resistance can be measured. So going in this direction and showing the consumer, he will for certain understand. And also, for example, sometimes we complicate too much what we are communicating. Here you see a biomaterial with cork. And you find, okay, it's different, it's interesting, but you need to explain why it's better than the other This one is a very simple shoe. It's wool. Minutes ago, Emmanuel talked about Burel. Burel is like this, is like this textile. But this is coming from waste. This is from, gentlemen, forgive me, but these sweats that you have, most of them have high percentage of wool. So what we took was really sweats coming from, ladies and gentlemen, take the linings, the whatever, and produce a material. This is not, don't need any color. So we find the mixture in order that the color is natural. So you have really waste from textile in this particular case, and we are doing like beds and shoes that are truly measurable our footprint and so on. So collaboration with research, with consumers, with governance, and also among our industries and other industries, we are coping together. I believe that the future is collaboration, science, design, all of us together, and that all of us, we are capable of turning our planet in a quite future future for all the generations to come. That's what I think and believe. Thank you.

No, you answered my next question, so I'm going to point it to Kaylee, which is really looking ahead. What do you see as the biggest opportunity shifting how fashion and footwear can be produced? It sounds like for Maria, it's collaboration.

Absolutely. Collaboration, definitely. And then being able to use data in order to inform or better assess and analyze and make efficient this work that we've been doing. So I really think that AI is going to have a big influence in this and even more so when we start using it in collaboration with our customers to analyze and assess what we're making for them, why we're making it for them, and what the components are in order to better and better reach what, for example, Maria Jose is showing us today. The more we can use mono materials, the more we can reach a more effective and efficient design model, the better we'll be able to reach our sustainability goals, which Portugal is already completely capable of doing.

Thank you both so much. Great note to end on. Thank you. I would now like to invite, wait, should we, let me help you with this. Thank you so much. Of course. And don't forget that one. There we go. Of course. I would now like to invite Carlos Moura, the Portuguese Trade and Investment Agency to the stage.

Hello, yes, I'm here.

Good to see you again. Thank you for joining me. We have obviously had an array of panelists on the stage today, and I'm curious, are there any reflections that you would like to share with the audience based off of what you've heard?

Thank you. Thank you so much. First of all, I'd like to thank all the speakers for this lovely session for you as well, dear friends and special to United Nations and of this amazing team that have followed this event. The reflections, I think during this event, this afternoon, we could see the strengths of the Portuguese footwear and Portuguese fashion and mainly with words like innovation, craftsmanship, talent, manufacturing, creativity, sustainability. And like Armando said, I think sustainability is not only the materials that we work on. It's a little bit more broader. It's sustainability in water, in energy. In social sustainability, how do you treat your staff? What kind of conditions you give? And this is like a chain that we cannot forget. And I think the Portuguese companies have been doing this very, very well. My life has been, last 30 years, around Portuguese companies, especially this kind of sector, the footwear and the garment industry. They shift in the last 30, 40 years. What I say, they found the good path. they are aligned what the world needs. We don't have another planet like Cesar said. So I'd say that we need to focus on these kind of ideas. And looking ahead, our goal is to build on these strengths for the future and to do the connections between these companies and the Portuguese talent. with international markets, with the international industry and to showcase this more and more all over the world.

What do you think is the first step in showcasing it more internationally?

To promote even more what we've been doing in Portugal. We are doing this internationally. I know these companies, they showcase all around the world. There are a mount of examples that you can use in these kind of sectors, in these kind of industries, in these kind of materials, in these kind of processes that can teach something to the world that we need to preserve.

Maybe just to end on something actionable for our audience, if there's a designer or brand or someone in manufacturing who is interested in working with players in Portugal, what's like a first step that they can take?

Contact us.

Contact you, yeah.

We are the Portuguese agency to promote Portuguese companies all over the world. So if you wanna go overseas, contact us. If you're producing in Portugal, contact us. We are, I like to say, A to Z agency to this kind of work. And we do the connections with these associations and with these companies. And I have to say we've been quite successful because our success is the success of the companies and the success of the companies is our success.

Mutually beneficial.

Definitely.

Amazing. Thank you, Carl.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it. Enough of me now. Thank you all so much for joining me today. I would now like to invite the Deputy Permanent Representative of Portugal, Her Excellency Ambassador Vera Avila.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Okay, well, thank you. I'm supposed to stand, so Carlos, if you allow me, no, if it's okay with everybody, I'll sit, right, it's pretty hot in here. Okay, so to start off, I mean, distinguished speakers, ladies and gentlemen, I couldn't sit through the whole thing, but what I sat through, I mean, it was amazing, very interesting, and very thought provoking, and I think this is what we aim for. I think a couple of takeaways, and it's so good to be sitting here with Puchko and Maita Matter behind me. I think what we can do here, and the main takeaway, is how much tradition and innovation and fashion, we all love fashion, can go hand in hand. And this is an event that really showcases it. I think what we did today as Portuguese is demonstrated how, you know, craftsmanship, technology, coming together, is really working for a fashion sustainable industry. So I would say that, you know, fashion is sustainable, and I think Portugal showed that today. Made to Matter creates products who have a value beyond just the fast fashion of one season, you know, we're working with the planet. And I think ultimately it's products that respect the people who make them, which is very important. Respect for those of us who are what we're all wearing. The resources of what they're making, that's all about sustainable development. We have to be sustainable here. We can't live on forever destroying our planet. And ultimately also respect, you know, you and me, the people who are wearing it. So I think very interesting messages here. I think as Carlos and my amazing colleagues before me said, I think Portugal is really dedicated to working on this, to investing in this process, but we can't do it alone. So it's great that we're here at the UN because we have to do it together. doesn't work if we're just a single country doing that. So please contact ISEP, please contact his office, they're good. So all in all, in closing, thank you to the United Nations for keeping us thinking about this and working on this. The Office for Partnership of the United Nations, the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle network. And then if you allow me, my Portuguese colleagues, APICAPs, CENIT, and ISEP. It's been a pleasure showcasing what we in Portugal can do for a good sustainable development. Thank you very much. Thank you.

I would like