Scandi chic? It’s all about Porto design now
Portugal may have been badly hit by recession, but, as Bethan Ryder discovers, young creatives are driving a revival of its arts and crafts heritage
There’s so much more to Portugal than city breaks, windsurfing and pasteis
de nata washed down with port. Over the past decade, it’s been busy designing itself out of a major recession by reinvesting in heritage homeware brands that celebrate the country’s diverse artisanship and rich craft traditions. Much of this is being driven by entrepreneurs in their 40s who were born post-dictatorship and, as a result, are international in outlook and keen to champion the “Made in Portugal” label on a world stage.
The nation’s slightly shabbier second city, Porto, has a long tradition for furniture and textiles manufacturing, and it has yet again become a hotbed for creativity.
The latest local brand ripe for reinvention is Claus Porto, a 130-yearold fragrance company. Its lavishly packaged soaps are beloved of design
aficionadas, and with flagships just opened in Porto and Lisbon, it is improving and expanding its lines, starting with its range of Deco scented candles.
“Claus Porto was known for its packaging but not its fragrance,” says Lyn Harris, a British perfumer involved with the brand’s revamp. “They had created fragrances for the Portuguese royalty through different eras, but had lost that side of it, and it had become mainly known for its soaps. For the Deco candles, we came up with a palette of materials that represent Porto and Portugal and being proud of the richness of the land. For example, Favorito is about red poppies, but they don’t have a scent, so I did something abstract which is rosy, intense, a bit fruity, vibrant and green.”
Seven new fragrances will follow this year, including one capturing the “amazing clementines” from Porto.
Harris, who recently created scents for French heritage brand Cire Trudon, says working with the Portuguese was a very different experience. “They are too humble, they don’t speak out – but I really think now is their time.”
This certainly appears to be the case in the furniture industry. A host of new luxury Portuguese brands, mostly based in the Rio Tinto area just outside Porto, have recently been targeting British homes.
Paulo Sousa set up Munna, specialising in elegant deco-inspired upholstery, and Ginger & Jagger, whose pieces – in hammered metals, marquetry and hand-sculpted marble – are inspired by nature. Both brands have furnished global Dior stores.
Also making their mark here is the Covet Group, whose six brands include Delightfull lighting, a specialist in extravagant mid-century modern-inspired brass and marble creations (their hero chandelier is a riot of trumpet horns). Sibling brand Boca do Lobo’s pieces include lavish tables with bases incorporating the Portuguese azulejo tiles that grace their buildings’ façades.
We’re not talking Ikea-level – this is high-end design in noble materials, aimed at the international market. For some, exports count for 95 per cent of their turnover. These brands are part of the new maximalism, creating statement pieces that revel in Portugal’s skills in marquetry, joinery, upholstery and metalwork.
Renowned for ceramics, heritage porcelain brand Vista Alegre – whose new Porto store neighbours Claus Porto’s – is also raising its game, commissioning top designers such as Jaime Hayon and the house of Christian Lacroix to design its tableware. Portugal’s expertise in ceramics and textiles is also luring in companies such as Anthropologie and Habitat, plus others who may have previously invested in China but recognise the economic and logistical advantages of sourcing in smaller batches and closer to home.
Polly Dickens, creative director of Habitat, says: “Portugal is often considered a sleepy nation, but we’ve found they are constantly experimenting. They’ve had a terrible recession and lots of factories closed, but the ones that survived are the really good ones. Two of our bestselling ranges, Olmo tableware and Washed bed linen, are from Portugal. The new generation have had to innovate, and we’ve found them very collaborative and creative.”
Four decades after it emerged from a 48-year dictatorship, Portugal has regained the spirit of Vasco da Gama through design, and is ready to take on the world again.
‘It is often considered a sleepy nation, but they are constantly experimenting’