Hobbit style magic
Catarina Araújo
The Modern Textile Age Has Begun
Manuel Serrão
Business man
One of the great loves of my life is my work and it is in this context that I have one of the most enduring relationships in my life. For 30 years I have given my very best on behalf of textile associations and promoting our industry and our fashion.
It is therefore only natural that I never tire of being both satisfied and proud when I look at our TCI - Textile and Clothing Industry -, more than 20 years after being condemned to death by the gurus of the time, not only evading this sentence, but also giving proof of life with each day that passes and a vitality that, I must confess, even surprises me at times. It is quite clear that if I had not believed 30 years ago in the ability of this industry and its main agents and entrepreneurs to overcome the crisis that had set in then, I would have chosen other paths long ago because, without false modesty, I also know that I could do other things. But back to what matters, which is our TCI, fighting fit, we have two examples, two excellent moments, affirming the industry fully, not only in terms of its modernity, but also proving its readiness to face the new challenges of the future.
This last February was rich with examples of this modernity. On the one hand, Joana Vasconcelos, who has long enjoyed a close relationship with the textile sector through the ATP - Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal (Textile and Clothing Association of Portugal), has her White Light exhibition on show in the French capital at Le Bon Marché, the pieces of which are made of textile waste supplied by Portuguese companies. On the other hand, the Iberian Peninsula’s oldest textile industry trade fair – MODTISSIMO – returns to the Departure Floor of Porto Airport. A textile fair being held in an operating airport is something truly unique in the world! Does anyone still doubt the modernity of this sector?
It is therefore only natural that I never tire of being both satisfied and proud when I look at our TCI - Textile and Clothing Industry -, more than 20 years after being condemned to death by the gurus of the time, not only evading this sentence, but also giving proof of life with each day that passes and a vitality that, I must confess, even surprises me at times. It is quite clear that if I had not believed 30 years ago in the ability of this industry and its main agents and entrepreneurs to overcome the crisis that had set in then, I would have chosen other paths long ago because, without false modesty, I also know that I could do other things. But back to what matters, which is our TCI, fighting fit, we have two examples, two excellent moments, affirming the industry fully, not only in terms of its modernity, but also proving its readiness to face the new challenges of the future.
This last February was rich with examples of this modernity. On the one hand, Joana Vasconcelos, who has long enjoyed a close relationship with the textile sector through the ATP - Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal (Textile and Clothing Association of Portugal), has her White Light exhibition on show in the French capital at Le Bon Marché, the pieces of which are made of textile waste supplied by Portuguese companies. On the other hand, the Iberian Peninsula’s oldest textile industry trade fair – MODTISSIMO – returns to the Departure Floor of Porto Airport. A textile fair being held in an operating airport is something truly unique in the world! Does anyone still doubt the modernity of this sector?
