The Centre for the Professional Training of the Textile, Apparel, Clothing and Wool Industry (Modatex, formerly known as Citex) is a point of reference for fashion designers in Portugal and the place where many Portuguese designers are trained.

It was created in 2011, based on a protocol signed between the Institute of Employment and Professional Training, the Association of Textile and Clothing Industries of Portugal, the National Association of Apparel and Clothing Industries and the National Association of Manufacturers of Wool. Its mission is to promote the economic growth of the textile and clothing manufacturing industry and raise the competitiveness of this important sector of the Portuguese economy.

Luís Buchinho, Katty Xiomara, Nuno Gama, Nuno Baltazar, Anabela Baldaque and Maria Gambina are members of the so-called ‘Citex generation’ of Portuguese fashion designers. ‘Since the 1990s, this training centre has been a benchmark in fashion design training and its graduates have earned awards and participated in international events’ says the Modatex director general, adding that it is ‘very gratifying to employ as trainers some graduates like Luís Buchinho, Hugo Costa or Katty Xiomara’. He also stated that ‘Motadex graduates Patrick de Pádua, Carla Pontes, João Barriga, Mafalda Fonseca, Pedro Neto and Tiago Silva are new wave designers who have gained a prominent place in the panorama of Portuguese fashion’.

Asked about the secret of Modatex success, the director general emphasised the centre’s internal know-how: ‘During the three-year programme, trainees learn mastery of various techniques until the final stage of the production of a garment’, textile manufacturing, shape setting and textile printing.

Motadex is headquartered in the city of Porto and has branches in Lisbon and many other Portuguese cities. ‘Each year Modatex offers about 20 placements in Oporto and 18 placements in Lisbon’, says the director, adding that ‘the admission criteria mainly stress the interview and the analysis of the applicants’ portfolio’.

Currently, Modatex has a strong link with fashion industry and other vocational schools with fashion professional programmes (GUDI, ESAD, Soares dos Reis art school and the Cooperativa de Ensino Árvore).


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Modatex é uma verdadeira 'fábrica' de designers de moda em Portugal

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