“Criticism never got me down”

In the first parade that he presented in his career, in September 1992, 3 thousand people went to the Convento do Beato to see what was going to happen there. It was a different world, without social networks or smart phones, as he insists on remembering, in a country that had no fashion culture. In fact, Fátima Lopes goes further: “No one knew anything about fashion at all”he tells the Observer. “She was very scared, terrified, in unimaginable stress. But she came out really well.”

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About to celebrate 30 years of career in an act that is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. this Saturday, September 24, and that will fill the Exhibition Pavilion of the Higher Institute of Agronomy, in Lisbon, the creator reflects on the first time she presented her creations to the public. She was learning everything “on her own”, without previous experience, but there were no half measures. The Convento do Beato was completely dark and was decorated with six podiums with games of light where the mannequins were placed. When the show started, there were models coming in from the left, from the right, from the back, about 100 outfits for men and women on the catwalk.