The Centre for the Professional Training of the Textile, Apparel, Clothing and Wool Industry –Modatex was created in 2011 (previously known as Citex) 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. It is a reference for fashion designers in Portugal and is still a source where many Portuguese designers are trained, whose secret is the “know-how to do in-house”.Its mission is to qualify human resources and enhance the textile and clothing industry and contribute to the development of the economic activities and competitiveness of the textile and clothing manufacturing cluster and important sector for the Portuguese economy.
Luís Buchinho, Katty Xiomara, Nuno Gama, Nuno Baltazar, Anabela Baldaque or Maria Gambina are some of the Portuguese of the so-called ‘Citex generation’, precisely because they have been trained in this training centre.
“Since the 1990s, this training centre has been a benchmark in fashion design training and its graduates have added awards and participation in international events,” says the Modatex director general, adding that it is “very gratifying” to have today as trainers some of the alumni like Luís Buchinho, Hugo Costa or Katty Xiomara.
Patrick de Pádua, Carla Pontes, João Barriga, Mafalda Fonseca, Pedro Neto ou Tiago Silva are another of the most recent examples of the new wave of designers trained at Modatex who have “gained prominence place in the panorama of Portuguese fashion,” added the director general.
Asked about the “secret” to the success of the creators who attend Modatex, the director general justifies it through the internal know-how: “trainees learn the mastery of various techniques until they reach the accomplishment of a garment”, namely textile manufacturing, shape setting, textile printing, stressing that the programme has three years duration.
“Each year Modatex opens about 20 places in Oporto and 18 places for Lisbon”, says the director, noting that the admission criteria mainly stress the interview and the analysis of the portfolio applicants.
Headquartered in the city of Porto, delegations in Lisbon and Covilhã and poles in Barcelos, Vila das Aves, and extensions in Lousada, Pinhel and Marco de Canaveses, the professional programmes in Modatex are a kind of training nest for those who want to train In the textile and design sector.
Currently, Modatex has a strong link to the industry, GUDI, ESAD, Soares dos Reis art school and the Cooperativa de Ensino Árvore, two professional schools with fashion professional programmes.
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