Miguel Vieira

"Portugal is not a country with a fashion tradition”

Very methodical and perfectionist, Miguel Vieira reveals his true colours to TRENDS magazine. The designer from sete ofícios is today a man who flies the illustrious Lusitanian flag, although he admits the flaws that sadden him in a Portugal that persists in not valuing fashion and its professionals. Miguel says that without financial support, fashion designers make "omelettes without eggs”, and that the representation of Portuguese brands abroad is almost non-existent. Engaged in an impassioned conversation, the designer shares his long career of 35 years, mixed with cold, hard views of the fashion reality in Portugal and the world. A story full of hard work and sacrifice, to be told in the following lines.

In three adjectives, how would you characterise today’s Miguel Vieira?
I think I’m a good friend, a perfectionist and a very methodical man.

Tell us about how your passion for fashion came about.
It came out of nowhere, completely. Generally, most designers would play with dolls and so on, but I was a kid who didn’t care much for fashion, who wore what his mother made him wear. I always wore shorts. It was like that for a long time. Meanwhile, I decided to take a course in Quality Control, which allowed for various specialisations. I chose the textile branch. At the same time, as I had a certain knack for drawing buildings, I was thinking of taking up architecture. For me, drawing and talking were very close. Often, it was actually easier to communicate by drawing than by verbalising. Then I was invited to work in a clothing company, mainly to deal with quality control, but it was there that I developed a taste for fashion and, one or two years later, I launched Miguel Vieira.

So, you developed Miguel Vieira in 1988. How would you characterise the brand’s DNA?
Over time, I have tried to find some details that would very quickly and easily allow people to identify what Miguel Vieira is. One of the first details was the signature, in which the brand name is explicit. Then, I managed to create a logo, in the shape of two wings, which is immediately associated with Miguel Vieira. Another detail was the choice of a colour, namely black. These are the details that are slowly built up so that, sooner or later, the brand can be perfectly identified. A typical detail of Miguel Vieira is that the models wear a wedding ring in all the fashion shows. A detail that is very nice for the models. It’s a marriage between the model and the brand, presenting them as a member of the team.

Do you feel that the emergence of the pandemic represented a pivotal period in the luxury brand’ s evolution?
For me, it was a wonderful time in my life, because I was able to rest, something I hadn't done for a long time. I was able to stop and have time for myself. I took the opportunity to think and rethink the brand. Did I sell a lot? No, I didn’t. A lot of people say the opposite, that they sold a lot. Personally, I don’t see anyone wanting to buy a suit to be at home, or high heels to walk around at home...
So, the financial and sales side, during the pandemic, was very complicated. We had to rethink, in particular, the online side of things. I was the first person to have a website and an app in Portugal. In the meantime, I was invited many times to sell online, but never did, because I didn’t want to upset my physical store customers. So, the pandemic was the moment in which I invested in online, as my own customers were also starting to focus on it.

How would you describe your creative process, from idea to creation?
It’s an extensive process, over many months. It’s six months that often flow into a year or two, because I’m a good observer. I gather a lot of photographs in my mind, as much of journeys and people I see, as of the table laid in the restaurant. They are photographs that stay with me. And when the time comes to think about a theme for developing the new collection, I pass the information on to paper, holding a briefing with the whole team so that we can focus on the theme. Let’s imagine, now, that the content of the collection has to do with a certain film. I get my team to go to libraries to look up the people’s biographies, to search on the Internet and go to the cinema to see the film. All to retain as many details as possible and develop the collection.
The selection of raw materials is made well in advance, 99% of which are Italian. I go to a highly select fair, where you can find the top fabrics of international brands, such as Loro Piana, Zegna, among others... To give you an idea, I’ve already made these purchases for 2024. Then, there’s the process of organising the patterns, arranging the silhouettes, etc. The last thing is the process of putting on a fashion show.

Which materials do you most like to work with? Do you use an Portuguese raw materials?
1% of the materials I use are Portuguese. Very few. I use Portuguese woollens, but over time, many of them have disappeared. I am very used to working with the fabric brands that I mentioned before. I like good quality materials. It makes a difference, because the sewing is different, the way you assemble a shoe is different... So, I try not to deviate from that direction and never lower the quality in terms of raw materials.

Is your brand aimed at all types of people and sizes?
Yes, the collection is made in the standard size for models. It’s 48 for men and 36 for women, in terms of the catwalk. I think the show is a spectacle and as such, people want to see elegant, slim models. I’m not against bigger people, however, I like working this way more. Obviously, each piece is scaled up to the maximum size. The clothes, for example, are up to 60 and the shoes are up to 46.

"… it is very complicated to make a collection that is 100% sustainable from head to toe”

There is a lot of talk about sustainability in fashion these days. Have you made this a maxim?
I took part in drawing up the government’s programme on sustainability, two terms of office ago. I have always given a lot of importance to sustainability.

What sustainable innovations can we expect from Miguel Vieira?
I have increasingly found products abroad that combine several environmentally friendly features. Between a sustainable product and a non-sustainable one, I always choose the sustainability side. Now, it is very complicated to make a collection that is 100% sustainable from head to toe.

So, sustainability is still a challenge?
Yes, it is a challenge. There is not that much out there, in that sense. A given sustainable product may exist, but the necessary number of suppliers to meet the demand is not there. I may want a sustainable shoelace, and I see the complicated situation to get it. The same goes for a zip, button, lining of a jacket... There are things that are hard to get. But, yes, the team at my studio is formatted so that everything is more and more sustainable.

Where do you find your inspiration?
Talking to you, talking to the cameraman, having dinner with friends, travelling... I spend a lot of time away. All sources of inspiration are important. Often sitting on a park bench, watching people walking by, inspires me. It’s watching and learning about street fashion, which is very important. Then I transform it into something more luxurious, through its details.

You have been able to say "no” to Prada and other luxury brands. Have you ever regretted the sacrifices you made to make your dream of creating your own brand come true?
I haven’t regretted it, but I can say it’s a very difficult journey. All professions are complicated. A doctor, to become a doctor, has had to make many sacrifices, studying for many years. Here, in the fashion world, it’s the same.
In Portugal, the factories often work almost 100% for abroad. They make a collection and go abroad, not to sell their own product, but for other brands to come to them, saying what they like or don’t like, and then the factory removes its label and makes the pieces that the brand in question dictates. That was never my goal. If I had gone down that road, I would have many cars and many houses by now, just like many manufacturers. I always thought it was very important that Portugal, as it isn’t a country with a fashion tradition, to have people who could embellish the country with their own creations. When I present my collections at an international fair and a top brand arrives pointing out the pieces it likes the most, asking to remove the Miguel Vieira label and put on their own, I simply say "the door you came in through is the door you can leave through”. So, if I had followed another path, I could have been a millionaire, but I am happy with what I do today, with my brand. I still have a long way to go to achieve all my goals, but I think, in the short term, things could take a big leap forward.

What was the moment when you realised that not only the brand, but your name had started to grow?
Contrary to what everyone thinks, I didn’t start by producing shoes. I started with a collection of women’s clothes and, much later, I launched shoes. I made several collections and only later did I organise the fashion shows. I’ll explain why: for example, it wouldn’t make sense for Prada to have a fashion show in which the models wore Gucci bags, Louis Vuitton shoes, Brioni belts and Chanel make-up. So, it’s logical that Prada, in its own fashion show, has the woman and the man dressed by the brand from head to toe. That was always my goal, to dress the model with my own brand’s glasses, the same goes for jewellery, shoes, belts, bags... That’s why I had a period not of celibacy, but a time dedicated to the organisation of the collections, in order to be able to present a complete look. Whether the person likes it or not, it’s all Miguel Vieira products, and I think the leap is made when you start doing fashion shows.
Following the success of my fashion shows, things began to evolve, even in Portugal. People began to like it, to associate the brand with my name, and invitations to many events began to arrive. And then there’s a journey that’s more like a desert, because it never ends. We have many people in the country, from various fields, who think they are superstars, but they are only stars in Portugal, where we are 9 or 10 million inhabitants. These people then arrive in Vigo and nobody knows who they are. So, making a name for yourself in Portugal isn’t complicated, but it is difficult to get to a Fashion Week in Paris or New York and be interviewed by the big international magazines. Being recognised abroad is complicated and, for me, having visibility also implies that it’s not only in Portugal, but also on the international stage.

What are the requirements that a fashion designer has to have to conquer the international stage?
First of all, there’s a new generation and I, in fact, haven’t had access to it. It is a generation that has Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and a thousand and one things that, at the time I started, I didn’t have. Today, everything is just a click away and things are much easier. However, this is a new generation that thinks anything is possible when you click on an app. A lot of the time, people have to give up their mobile phones or computers because, when you’re in a couture business, and there’s a thread that has to travel a huge journey, you have to be prepared for it to break, and then it won’t be an app that will make it go all the way to the needle. I think there is a new generation that thinks that, to be a fashion designer or creator, all you need is a computer that makes it all easy. You also have to pick up scissors and cut, know how to improvise in unexpected situations... and there are people who don’t know how to do that. I really value that more practical part of doing things.

"We don't have Portuguese brands represented abroad”

What is fashion for you?
Fashion is a code, in which people are in society, without talking to each other and without introducing themselves, and yet they belong to a group. So, fashion is a fitting into a kind of group, communicating without verbalising and yet understanding what kind of group one is part of.

What we wear says a lot about us.
We have two things: our identity card, which tells our height, our weight, etc. And then our second identity card, which is a way of showing ourselves to people and making our DNA known.

How would you currently characterise the sector’s health in Portugal?
The health of fashion is good, but it still makes me sad. Portugal is not a country with a fashion tradition, like Paris or Milan. It’s a country that makes clothes for other brands, and not for its own. We don’t have Portuguese brands represented abroad and there’s increasingly the idea of financially reducing fashion designers. We don’t want to make millions of items. In fact, we’re a good calling card for Portugal to other countries, allowing them to see that good fashion is made in Portugal. It’s a shame that manufacturers don’t make designers’ lives easier. When a new designer starts to work, it’s normal that they want to make half a dozen pieces, but the industry makes it difficult, because it demands quantity. I think some companies should choose to work with small series and designers, where the cost of a piece is not €1, but €50, rather than producing for abroad and selling the pieces for €1.
Another big problem is the government, which doesn’t support designers. The government thinks we’re self-centred and that we only look at ourselves. They think we want the clothes just for ourselves, but we want the clothes to promote the country. We should be heavily subsidised. If the textile, footwear and leather goods industries are doing a lot of work, it’s due to the Portuguese designers, who have made a career out of showing that good fashion is made in Portugal. But we earn pennies, they earn millions.

Do you think that men’s relationship with trends and fashion is still significantly different compared to that of women?
No, on the contrary. Men are impossible, very vain. There is a huge market, which has been growing, of men investing in quality clothing, from accessories to leather goods. The male public buys a lot nowadays.

Do you think that fashion still lacks support from the state?
There is very little support, and everything is given and thought of as if it were a handout. We Portuguese often manage to make "omelettes without eggs” and people connected to the government have no idea of our difficulties. All designers are wonderful in Portugal. We have an incredible capacity to interpret and reinvent. If we need to make a table, we’re capable of going to a rubbish bin and finding some planks or a piece of cardboard and we can definitely assemble the table. Americans can’t, as they need a computer and an application to do it. We are not valued or supported in governmental terms, and I’m talking in general. I can’t complain, I was Commander of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator, I have two Globos de Ouro, several awards and medals, but I do complain about the government support. It makes me really sad.

There have been many episodes in which companies have counterfeited Miguel Vieira, making it difficult to distinguish them from the original products. You were, therefore, the first Portuguese to incorporate a silver hologram with lead in the pieces, to show that they are the real deal. Do you think that these situations, in a certain way, reflect the country’s inadequacy at policing the area?
There are other countries that are worse, but unfortunately, we are the target of a lot of counterfeiting. In order to combat this, we opted for a hologram a few years ago. Each of the pieces has a number, which means that you can almost have an ID of the piece. But in Istanbul, for example, it’s much more widespread. The biggest problem in Portugal is that we are counterfeited on a daily basis. I’ve already had socks counterfeited and, by chance, it was a product that Miguel Vieira didn’t even have. The logistics of this whole process are complicated. We have to have an internal structure just to deal with these issues, someone who knows how to distinguish the real thing from the fake. The problem is not only in Portugal – in fact our country is very advanced in that respect – but the most complicated part is the logistics.

How do you foresee the future of fashion to be?
I’d like there to be many fashion designers, many dressmakers, many people working in shoes, so that we can create a fashion tradition in Portugal. And, above all, we should be able to export various designers internationally, as Spain does. Investments have already been made here, yes, but they would have to be much bigger. I think the government has to understand this.

"We don't have Portuguese brands represented abroad”

Of all the fashion shows around the world, which one affected you the most?
There were essentially two. One of them was at the São Paulo Fashion Week, in Brazil. Although it’s not the biggest Fashion Week, it’s very well organised. When you get to São Paulo, at that time, you breathe fashion. A month before the show, I get massage companies wanting to look after the models backstage, and lots of companies send me CVs because they want to offer backstage catering... So, it’s a very nice Fashion Week.The Fashion Week that gave me the most pleasure, although I've done it in many places, such as Paris, Prague, Istanbul, New York, Barcelona, Mozambique and Madrid, was Milan Fashion Week. It’s what I've always wanted. It’s a very closed event, where only Italian brands are present, and there’s no room for designers from other countries. And we, in fact, managed to get into the official calendar. The only ones. It was one of the proudest moments of my life.

Do you still remember what you felt at the first Miguel Vieira fashion show?
I know I worked very hard for the fashion show, and I remember everything being very fast. People always think that the fashion shows take half an hour, but they don’t. They usually last 10 minutes. The venue was very beautiful, in Lisbon’s Electricity Museum. It was just my fashion show, where I invited people, I took care of the models...

So that’s six months of work for 10 minutes.
Yes, I often say that.

Do you feel nervous at "the eleventh hour”?
Always. The day I don’t feel nervous before a fashion show, I think I’ll change professions. It’s part of my job.

"We are not valued or supported in terms of the government”

Any unfulfilled dream?
Something I’ve been talking about for many years is the dream of having a hotel, I’ve wanted that all my life. I have always said that I would rather have a hotel than shops. Why a hotel? Because I could explore the enterprise itself, the decoration, the staff uniforms, choose the music I like, decorate a nice table and include a space for the Miguel Vieira shop. That was the goal, and then to have hotels internationally.

What is the Miguel Vieira highlight piece?
I think it’s the exceptional cut and mould of a Miguel Vieira jacket.

Name three pieces that cannot be missing in a man or woman’s wardrobe.
In the women’s wardrobe, a dinner jacket, a long dress and a swimsuit. For men, a tailcoat for weddings, a dinner jacket and a white shirt.

What advice would you give to the "new blood” taking their first steps in the fashion world?
Firstly, that for a few hours they could roll up their sleeves and touch the things, forgetting their mobile phones. And secondly, to have their feet firmly on the ground and not be deluded by fame, it’s all very fleeting, it’s not worth it.