Portugal may be a small country, but it’s filled with talent and resilience. Get to know a few portuguese people, from or living in Porto, who highlight the best of this city.
Katy Xiomara
Photo courtesy of: Katy Xiomara
Katy is a fashion designer born in Venezuela in 1974 to a portuguese family. She came back to Portugal and settled in Porto when she was 18 to study. At 22 she won the “Porto de Moda” award and was able to present her first collection at Portugal Fashion (the portuguese fashion week). Her style is super classy but practical and she continues to have her collections presented every year at several fashion weeks in many cities, such as Tokyo and New York. You visualize stylized and practical art déco when you think of her clothes, especially in the recent Spring/Summer ’18 collection she took to New York . Her studio is located at 795, Rua da Boavista, in case your interest is peaked.
Marta Bateira aka Beatriz Gosta
Photo by: Paulo Duarte
When you visit Porto you may hear this expression: “Sem papas na língua”. This basically means that one says what one has to say, like it has to be said, with nothing holding his or her tongue back. An epitome of that is Marta Bateira, Porto native, with her amazing alter-ego Beatriz Gosta. Marta is a fashion designer, feminist rapper and an incredible performer (with feminism and women’s sexual freedom pretty much in mind). While she’s been performing as a rapper alongside Capicua (Facebook page) it was her sketches as Beatriz Gosta (since 2015) that have left a mark on the public. Beatriz Gosta is an open minded, young Porto woman, with a sharp tongue and hilarious wit, who dwells on her social and sexual experiences. Watch her work, you may even learn some useful Portuguese!
Sara Sampaio
Photo by: Norman Jean Roy
Twenty-six year old Sara Sampaio is the Portuguese angel at Victoria’s Secret. Did you know she was born in the Porto area, in the coastal town of Leça da Palmeira? Her notoriety began when she won a Portuguese competition for Pantene, and from there on out she thrived. She has graced the covers of Vogue, Glamour and Elle magazines, among others. She’s the face of the brand Calzedonia and already appeared in the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated. She is the Portuguese supermodel, who people thought was too short (she’s 1,72m) to thrive in high fashion. But Sara is a Porto woman, and there is something to be said about their resilience. Fighting through the critics, she reached the top of the fashion world, becoming nowadays one of the most famous Portuguese people on the planet.
Vasco Coelho Santos
Photo by: Bruno Sousa
Lets dive a bit into food. Such an important part of Portuguese culture, and the city of Porto. Vasco Coelho Santos is a perfect example of this. Born and raised around Porto, he was studying business when he decided to follow his dream and dedicate himself to cooking. In 2008, he went to Lisbon to study culinary and work with other Portuguese chefs like José Avillez. Eventually, he’d go to Spain to work in prestigious restaurants and when he came back to Porto, he started developing his own projects and his own brand. In late 2016 he opened his own restaurant, downtown, called Euskalduna Studio (Google maps). This place really stands out for its different concept of cuisine d’auteur, still quite mindful of its origin: both in inspiration and ingredients. Lets hope some Michelin stars are on the way for this Porto chef.
Mundo Segundo
Photo by: André Henriques
A byproduct of Porto’s hip hop scene, Mundo Segundo (real name, Edmundo Silva), is a famed MC, from the band Dealema (Facebook page). He’s one of the most prominent figures in Portuguese hip-hop at the moment, as well as the most admired, setting the pace of the music style from the margins of the Douro River. A devoted FCPorto fan, he performs at club events and is often a presenter.
Rui Moreira
Photo by: Miguel Nogueira
Rounding up this group of great Portuguese people is Porto’s current mayor, Rui Moreira, a man who loves this city. A native of the Invicta (Porto’s other moniker), he’s been in office since 2013, when he was elected running as an independent. Before being elected he was president of the Associação Comercial do Porto (Chamber of commerce) and wrote often for newspapers defending Porto and its citizens interests. This is the role he took to another level, as mayor, becoming a very important part of what makes Porto such a great destination year after year. A change in image set in motion a new branding and a support system for the city’s infrastructures.
Any of these fascinating Porto citizens inspired you to visit?
