Filipe Augusto SS22: Sustainability is not a trend

“I am part of a group of designers for whom sustainability is not a trend, it is a premise“

The designer original from the rural inland countryside of Portugal Filipe Augusto (@filipeaugusto_studio) brings us closer once again to sustainable men’s fashion through the reinterpretation of the classics, making avant-garde pieces that incorporate details and recurring women’s collections patterns.

Filipe Augusto (@filipe.aaugusto) takes the visual imaginary of his hometown typical festival, as well as deadstock fabrics, and presents a collection in which the mixture of graphics and chromatics remind us of the hot summers. An experience that the designer himself relived last year in a photographic exhibition and has inspired and illustrated the new Spring Summer 2022 collection. . 

“This mixture of patterns and colours that filled the pictures of the exhibition I visited in the summer, constituted the starting point.”

From suit sets and trouser-top combinations to underwear in warm satin earth tones built in his studio in Port. A collection that carries origins as a flag. And, as it is natural in the brand, worked from sustainability.

VT: What meaning does hometown have for you? How do you consider it has influenced the collection and the way you understand fashion?

FA: Having lived in a rural place gave me the opportunity to experience and value simple things of life, such as observing the daily lives of the people who live there, that are unique by their way of being and the way they dress. Its customs and traditions are deeply connected to their work on farming and house, to the proximity to the Douro River, their close connection with religion, system of beliefs and its rituals.

Suddenly I had to leave the countryside to study in the city, leaving this place behind. I actually never thought I would develop work on these memories. The truth is that all these visual references are linked to me, and I’m interested in exploring them in contemporary clothing. 

VT: Could you tell us more about this festival, and how is it represented in the garments? What were your thoughts as you walked through the exhibition that later became the starting point for this SS22 collection?

FA: These are religious celebrations that promote the participation of the entire village, gathering everyone, which is very interesting to watch how people dress for these special days. Women enjoy showing off their most extravagant pieces, that stand our from their everyday clothes. Many of these fabrics are shiny, with characteristic ornaments or prints, an they are usually made by the village seamstresses. While men free themselves from their working attire and wear more classic and formal suits, suiting to the ceremony.  

This mixture of patterns and colours that filled the pictures of the exhibition I visited in the summer, constituted the starting point. All those elements have a personal representation in the collection: whether through the shape of the pieces, or the patterns and fabrics that were used, fusing a feminine side with the masculine.

VT: Your brand is well known for reusing and adapting deadstock fabrics. What role does sustainability play in Filipe Augusto? What are your thoughts on the future of fashion on sustainability?

FA: The sustainability in the Filipe Augusto collections comes from value that the brand gives of simple things and nature. The use of dead-stock fabrics comes from the interest in minimizing the resources needed in the elaboration of new garments.

I am part of a group of designers for whom sustainability is not a trend, it is a premise.

Take a look at the SS21 Filipe Augusto collection here