His collection ‘Devolata ao mar’ has won the ModaLisboa X RDD Textiles Award of this competition for young Portuguese designers at Lisbon Fashion Week
IED Barcelona alumnus Gabriel Silva Barros, Sangue Novo winner
Date
11 March 2025
IED Barcelona excellence in fashion design continues to generate admiration on international catwalks. At the recently held ModaLisboa (6-9 March), Gabriel Silva Barros, who studied the BA (Hons) in Fashion Design, won the ModaLisboa X RDD Textiles Award of Sangue Novo, the competition for young Portuguese designers.
He did so with his collection ‘Devolata ao mar’, a continuation of his previous proposal, ‘Masquerade at the Gentlemen’s Club’, which captured the opulent and eccentric energy of a night of cross-dressing in a cabaret. His new designs now take place in the quiet, reflective hours of the morning after, with looks featuring fishers who express their fluid identities, wrapped in silks and feathers, and who, on their return to the sea, reflect and reconcile with memories between reality and fantasy.
The collection is composed of uniforms made of flannel, knitwear and worn textiles that take an unexpected turn with asymmetries and textured materials that also play a fundamental role in the narrative. They echo the salty embrace of the ocean, while cinched waists and delicate details recall the intimacy of the masquerade.
With a contrasting colour palette of darker shades of navy, slate grey and muted earth tones with hints of deep blue, vibrant reds and yellow, the designs are inspired by tradition and, at the same time, challenged by the surreal in a proposal with sustainability as its central axis: deconstructed second-hand garments are reused to create new fabrics and also symbolise the patched uniforms of fishers, their memories and redefined experiences.
A three-month scholarship
Thanks to this award, Gabriel Silva Barros will undertake a three-month internship in collaboration with RDD Textiles to develop his new collection using the company’s innovative materials and processes. In addition, he will receive a scholarship of 1,750 euros. Further, the young designer will have access to the press office and showroom services of the communication agency Showpress for a season.
Rat Borrell at “Nostalgia for the future”
Lisbon Fashion Week also saw the participation of IED Barcelona Fashion Design graduate Rat Borrell at the “Nostalgia for the future” fashion show with the collection ‘El viatge que mai hem fet’. More information here.
Photos: Ugo Camera / ModaLisboa
Gabriel Silva Barros
“Devolata ao mar”
Gabriel Silva Barros
“Devolata ao mar”
Gabriel Silva Barros
“Devolata ao mar”
Rat Borrell
“El viatge que mai hem fet"
Rat Borrell
“El viatge que mai hem fet”
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