Nuno Gama announces a catwalk show on October 24 to honour Joana Vasconcelos and her ‘Valkyrie Miss Dior’

Nuno Gama has just announced on social media that his next fashion show, a tribute to Joana Vasconcelos and her globally recognisable ‘Valkyrie Miss Dior‘, among other works by the contemporary Portuguese artist, born in Paris, whose oeuvre has travelled the world, captivating and surprising with its majesty and Made in Portugal craftsmanship, across the most diverse and renowned museum spaces. This is the designer’s source of inspiration.

Nuno Gama tells us, in a hurried voice message: “I’m still finalising the press dossier, the team keeps getting smaller and it’s always Nuno… The fashion show will take place at Atelier Joana Vasconcelos because the collection is a tribute to Joana and inspired by her,” the designer told FashionNetwork.com.

There is an atelier housed in the Gonçalves Zarco Building, on Rua da Cintura do Porto de Lisboa, Doca de Alcântara Norte. Which leads us further afield…

The Alcântara Dock in Lisbon, a place of departures and arrivals for ships, for which Almada Negreiros created murals, chiefly for its Maritime Station, completed in 1943, depicting riverside Lisbon, its daily life, the work of sailors and charcoal sellers, among other themes from popular mythology such as the ‘Nau Catrineta’, also evoked by Nuno Gama in his collections.

The Alcântara Maritime Station is intended for first-class passengers and Rocha do Conde de Óbidos — also adorned with murals by the multidisciplinary artist from São Tomé and Príncipe — handled traffic with former colonies. Everything is symbolic, as everything is connected, in the work of the artist renowned for her monumental sculptures and immersive installations, as in the work of the fashion designer who so ably champions our traditional know-how.

The video published on Instagram, at @nuno.gama and @nunogamaprive, highlights the date and time of the event, October 24 at 7 pm, and sheds light on the themes, fabrics and colours of this new collection with a Portuguese soul — as is always the case with any collection signed by the couturier from Azeitão — which also speaks to the journey of this great lady who erased borders between cultures and sensibilities, revealing our mystical, mixed core, open to seas and horizons.

And all this coming from a small country that manages to be great at certain moments in political and strategic history, as well as in the history of private life, culture, and the arts, which, incidentally, Nuno has always glorified.

His rich collection for autumn-winter 2025/26 foregrounds traditional lace and embroidery found in the works of the artisans who collaborate in Joana Vasconcelos’ art studio (as in his own), in animals such as pure-bred Lusitano horses and in other bestiary, like the lizard, juxtaposed with contrasting patterned fabrics to inspire romanticism.

It is there in the gigantic Bolo de Noiva, like a palace; in the somewhat baroque and romantic gentlemen, dandies with large silk bows; amid so many fluttering materials such as voiles and linens that seem to come from the whirling dances of Arab performers; or in the famous and voluptuous Valkyrie (not Greek) that made the great Joana even greater.

Nuno Gama always makes a good choice, beginning long before the show was announced with the casting of models, in which he challenged new, unsigned faces — in other words, real people — whom he mixes with professionals, as has always been evident in his shows, especially since he distanced himself from ModaLisboa.

Of course, independence is expensive, reserved for a niche, but there’s nothing better than living and being who you are, noble in soul and spirit, with the best influences.

If that weren’t the case, by sheer enthusiasm and/or passion, how would the noble navigators Gonçalves Zarco or Vasco da Gama have gone so far?

Isn’t it so, great Nuno?!