The Footwear Museum opens on Saturday the exhibition 'António, Sem Título', which brings together in São João da Madeira fashion illustrations by the Portuguese who has been working with specialized press such as Vogue and brands such as Fendi and Chanel.

The exhibition will be on display in this cultural space in the district of Aveiro and the Metropolitan Area of Porto until April 2025, to highlight that, although in Portugal fashion illustration is little known to the general public and receives little institutional publicity, the work of António Soares has a solid reputation for its "easily identifiable" line, its "precise brushstroke" and its "vibrant colors".

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These descriptions are by Sara Paiva, who, as director of the Footwear Museum and curator of the exhibition, states that "António worked directly with major brands, such as Chanel and Fendi, where Karl Lagerfeld worked", and has been illustrating "coordinated, fashion accessories, cosmetics, jewelry, perfumery, watches and other luxury products for the international specialized press", such as Vogue magazine from China, Arabia and Dubai, as well as Marie Claire, The New Yorker and The Guardian newspaper.

At 51, the artist who was born in Angola and graduated in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Porto has, however, accumulated several other professional experiences in his curriculum: he has already signed portraits of personalities from the musical world, illustrated children's books and taught Art in several schools, but it was when he joined the teaching staff of CITEX - Textile Industry Vocational Training Center that he began his career in specific fashion design.

Among the creators for whom he has been working since then include, in addition to the aforementioned foreign fashion houses, also Portuguese designers such as Alexandra Moura, Carolina Curado, Luís Buchinho, Luís Onofre, Nuno Baltazar, Nuno Gama, Pedro Pedro and Ricardo Dourado.

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In national fashion, the illustrator's works also have a regular presence on the back cover of the magazine "Portuguese Soul", published by the association APICCAPS, which represents the national footwear and leather goods industry.

Outside the country, this work includes more recent designs for postcard collections by the stationery brand Fashionary and for the book "Sketching Fashion", by Laia Beltran Querol and Lucy Victori Davis.

As for the 30 illustrations on display at the Footwear Museum, Sara Paiva says they highlight the "underlying romanticism" in all of António Soares' work, who admits to drawing inspiration not only from cinema, the plastic arts and dance, but also "from the femininity" of his own mother.

"Without ever tending towards a 'vintage look', António's pieces are full of historical references such as porcelain, still lifes or architectural and sculptural elements from classical antiquity", defends the museum's director.

In addition, "elements of flora and fauna are represented with such precision and mastery that it is possible to identify the species", which favors in the observer the impression that, "in the manner of Art Nouveau, António's compositions seem to seek eternal beauty in the natural world".

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