On the fourth week of June Oporto hosted the 1st Edition of the Luxury Design & Craftsmanship Summit which brought together designers, creatives, craftsmen and craftmen from all over the world!
This event was organized by the Covet Group gathered in Gondomar with some of the top companies int the design industry like Vista Alegre, Michaelangelo Foundation, Topázio or Boca do Lobo. Today, we will bring you a sneak peak of what happen there.
The summit occurred in the days 20 and 21 of June, and in this two days the guests were gifted with several Live Showcases of several traditional Arts & Crafts of Portugal, namely Filigree, Tilling, Arraiolos, Renda de Bilros, Goldening, Jewellery Craft, Upholstery and Wood Work! These showcases promoted a strong bonding between the Audience and the Artisans and the end result was amazing.
This event highlights the importance in the appreciation of artisans and craftsmen, so often forgotten within factories.
Amandio Pereira, CEO of the Covet Group., open the session reinforced the importance of Craftsmanship to the covet Group, but also to Portugal and the Furniture Industry. The first day ended with the First Panel of the Summit entitled “The value of Craftsmanship For the luxury World”. This panel had the contribution of Amandio Pereira, CEO of the Covet Group; Nicole Segundo, Representative/ Network Developer to Portugal for the Michaelangelo Foundation; Fátima Santos, General Secretary of the AORP; Luis Onofre, entrepreneur, shoemaker, and CEO of the Luis Onofre brand; and Antonio Moura, business developer.
The main focus of this panel was the relation between Luxury Goods & Design and the Traditional Arts or Ancient crafts. The end result was amazing and the speakers delivered a strong panel! The debate that followed was powerful and full of design ideas and opportunities and, in the end, craftsmanship was highlighted and the discussion that resulted from this amazing debate surely forged a better path for the future for the industry.
The 2nd Panel on the second day of the event was entitled “Design as a Driving Force of Local Craftsmanship”, this panel focus on the evolution of design and interior design, which started to be as branches of architecture, an industry that was always understood as the major art. And if the interior design segment was considered a component of architecture, the design of clothing, furniture, jewelry and other common artifacts were also left mostly to tradition or artisans specializing in handmade products.
This panel had the contribution of Fernando Caetano (Moderator), director of Open Media; João Branco e Luis Sanchéz, fashion designers and CEO’s of the Storytailors Fashion Studio; Toni Grilo, product designer of Topázio; Alda Tomás, designer of Vista Alegre; Serena Confalonieri, designer; Francesca Merciari, artisan.
The Luxury Design & Craftsmanship Summit resume its agenda with a discussion about luxury design! What makes a Luxury Brand and how do you create one? This was the focal point of the third and last panel of this event entitled: “Luxury Branding: Behind the Scenes Story”!
This panel had the moderation of Mónica Seabra-Mendes, the Luxury Management Program Coordinator of Universidade Catolica, and had the participation of Marco Costa, COO and Creative Director of Boca do Lobo; Jorge Martins, founder of RomBoats; Carlos Santos, CEO and Creative Director of Santos Shoes; and Carla Graça, Marketing Manager of Vista Alegre.
As you can see the Luxury Design & Craftsmanship Summit was a total success! The 2nd Edition of this design event will take place in Paris, France, in January of 2018!
Are you going to miss it?
