Sole Searching at Lisbon Fashion Week with APICCAPS

October 26, 2026

As with all great things in fashion, seeing a 2D shoe is nothing short of uncanny. When the outer panels of a boot are laid in front of you in a deflated, not-yet-stitched state, the realization that footwear begins with careful cutouts of leather becomes increasingly clear. Of all the fashion pieces we wear, shoes are the ones we consider least when contemplating the creation process. I can imagine a sweater being knit or a bag being stitched together. But a shoe almost feels like an accessory that was born ready to be slipped on hastily when you’re running out the door, no questions asked. It’s easy to forget the careful attention to detail that must go into its production. The many hands and the collaborative effort.

This Lisbon Fashion Week, office trekked out to Portugal for an exclusive look at the factory-to-runway pipeline of APICCAPS shoes. Why Portugal? Because Portugal is the second largest footwear producer in Europe. We’re talking 80 million pairs produced last year alone. So, if anyone should be doing it sustainably, ethically, with high quality, and with a bit of pizazz, it should be them. And thankfully, they're doing all that and more.

Words by Selena Aiyla
Photography by Alexandre Azevedo

This season’s ModaLisboa shows created a mosaic of styles. Luís Carvalho showcased subtle pastel floral patterns and solid flowy neutrals, while brands like Dino Alves opted for a grittier, more punk-inspired collection with a mix of black and taupe tulle, including pops of fuchsia and warm yellow. Both gorgeous, but utterly different.

So what exactly did they have in common? APICAPPS shoes were the foundation for both. Despite their distinct personalities, the versatility of APICAPPS shoes was able to create a throughline in styling and even in mission. APICAPPS shoes were also showcased by brands like Luis Onofre, DuarteHajime, Valentim Quaresma, and Arndes. That is to say, all these brands had a commitment to the beauty of not only the fashion and sense of style being presented, but also to the beauty of the environment that makes up the cities of Portugal. Portugal is a country not only known for its stunning architecture and abundance of culture but for its dedication to eco-friendly initiatives. And APICCAPS is absolutely in line with that same identity.

Doing better is not simply about producing better. It means making more conscious choices, respecting what surrounds us and understanding that every gesture matters.

“Doing better is not simply about producing better. It means making more conscious choices, respecting what surrounds us and understanding that every gesture matters,” says Cláudia Pinto, Communications Director at APICCAPS. For the footwear association, compassion assumes many forms. Their latest campaign, Kindness, approaches production through a lens of quality materials and moral responsibility first and foremost. And they have new technologies to back this up. Through Bio4All, Portuguese footwear companies create shoes with biomaterials like pine bark, olive leaves, coffee grounds, chestnut shells, and olive stones. They even have new leather processing methods that reduce water usage by 20%. And through FAIST, they’re reeling in AI, automation, robotics, and digitalization to fully optimize their efficiency and reduce waste.

Of course, new-age technology can be a tricky topic. Luis Onofre says, “Automation, robotics and artificial intelligence are not here to replace the knowledge accumulated by the industry. They are here to enhance it. If we can combine the best of our people with new technologies, Portugal can build a competitive advantage that will be extremely difficult to replicate by industrial models based primarily on price.”

By the time you’re flipping through your favorite magazine, looking at the latest stilettos on the runway, it’s likely you’ve forgotten that it all started with an initiative, a few pieces of cheetah print leather cut up in a factory, or even a simple sketch or design. That’s precisely why seeing the full process was fascinating. It made me think about the lifetime of a shoe, conception starting not at the time of purchase, but from the moment the designer’s pencil hits their paper, and so on. Drawn, cut, stitched, shaped, adjusted, worn. In Portugal, all of this is done without losing sight of concepts like environmental awareness, durability, and plain old beauty. APICAPPS is proving that these elements can exist side by side, one leather boot at a time.

Fashion

SSENSE Got Steamy This Paris Fashion Week

October 09, 2026

On October 2nd, SSENSE celebrated a number of emerging designers at their Paris Fashion Week popup, Salon des Refusés. The name is a callback to the 1863 exhibition, where artists were rejected from the conservative jury of the official Paris Salon. Here, in 2026, SSENSE puts the designs of Kanika Agarwal, Laura Andraschko, MERRMA, Petra Fagerstrom, RESCHA, SECONDA, and Stephen Jones on a pedestal for one day only.

Usually functioning as an online platform, SSENSE brought the showroom to visitors to participate with the designs. Shifting from a purely digital experience, the visitors got to try on products right there while engaging with the designers themselves.

The pop-up was followed swiftly by a steamy afterparty, with a DJ set by Memphy, followed by a showcase by electronic duo Smerz. SSENSE has long been a platform for cultural discovery, and with Salon des Refusés, they bring the essence of the former outcast exhibition to a physical reality that brought together music, art, fashion, and community.

Words by Jack Devitt

Fashion

SATISFY and Oakley Are Back for Round Eight

October 09, 2026

SATISFY and Oakley are back with Chapter VIII of Equipment for Our World, bringing together futuristic eyewear, technical running gear, and a good amount of early-2000s energy.

At the center of the collection are two very different silhouettes. The Scar, originally introduced in 2001, makes a comeback in Falcon and X-Silver Metal, while the spiked Suture Jacket looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Both come equipped with specially designed vented Prizm lenses, keeping things functional despite their otherworldly appearance.

The lineup also includes a perforated long-sleeve tee, a lightweight trail cap, and a silver-foil bandana. All designed with breathability in mind, whether you're actually hitting the trails or just dressing the part.

The collection drops October 13 at SATISFY and Oakley.

By Enzo Holdt
Photography courtesy of SATISFY and Oakley

Fashion

*Better With Age Turns Vintage Materials Into Tailoring and Eyewear for FW26

October 08, 2026

*Better With Age is getting a little more dressed up. For Fall/Winter 2026, founder Remy Millchman introduces STOLEN ART, an expanded collection that takes the label’s ongoing obsession with vintage clothing and repurposed materials into more tailored territory.

At the center of the collection is the debut of Atelier by *Better With Age, a new sublabel focused on tailoring, business casual, and formal dressing. The line is built entirely from vintage suiting materials, dress shirts, and archival textiles, with some pieces made as one-offs and others produced in limited runs from surplus fabric rolls. The result is a mix of structured silhouettes and the imperfections that come with working with materials that already have a history.

The same approach extends to the accessories. For FW26, *Better With Age introduces a limited eyewear capsule made using genuine antique silver flatware, repurposed into functional components of the frames. Each style is limited to 50 pieces, with the natural wear and variations of the silver making every pair slightly different.

Text by Dylan Andrews
Photos courtesy of *Better With Age

STOLEN ART ultimately continues what *Better With Age has been doing from the beginning: taking things that already exist and giving them another life. This season, that idea moves beyond reconstructed vintage garments into sharper tailoring and unexpected luxury accessories, without losing the sense of history that defines the label.