Changing the perception of traditional arts in Portugal and valuing their potential in various industries is the goal of fashion designer Joana Duarte, from the Béhen brand.

"My project is focused on the concept of the trousseau; it started with the reuse of old materials, but it has evolved, seeking to have a social impact and to support those who know how to use these techniques", explained Duarte, revealing she has traveled all over Portugal looking for artisans.

Her journey began on the island of Madeira, with its embroidery, but in the meantime she has reached other parts of the country. In the Azores, she found the embroidery of Terceira and the weaving of São Jorge, with the support of the Center for Craftsmanship and Design of the Azores (CADA).

The collection "Adeus, até ao meu regresso" (Goodbye, until my return), which was presented at this year's edition of ModaLisboa, was born from this encounter and its pieces are a tribute to traditional art.

“For this collection, I worked on Terceira island with D. Mercês and João Pereira e Filhos Lda., who make the traditional white embroidery on white fabric; on the island of São Jorge I worked with weaving, with the Nunes sisters and Cooperativa de Artesanato Senhora da Encarnação”, she revealed, emphasizing that Béhen's mission is to establish a permanent “relationship with each artisan”.

Joana Duarte told Açoriano Oriental that Béhen's history is intertwined with her grandmother's and her trousseau chests, where there were many embroidered towels.
This experience was just a memory until, during her master's degree in London, after graduating in fashion design in Portugal, Duarte realized she wanted to develop "an ethical production", which led her to "an existential crisis".

"The fashion industry is very polluting and presents many commercial problems that I did not identify with, which led me to an existential crisis because I did not understand what differentiated me from other designers," she said.

It was then that she decided to travel to India, where the missing response came from.

“In India I learned to work directly with artisans and I realized women had the tradition of passing saris from generation to generation. And then I also realized that in Portugal, and in my family, there was also this tradition of passing the trousseau to the new generation”.

These realizations led Joana Duarte to create pieces through craft techniques that, in our country, draw less and less interest among young people, thus contributing to their preservation and that of artisans.

"Fashion is a way for me to tell this new generation that these arts can have a different use and thus contribute to preserving our cultural identity," she stated.
Béhen's pieces are available in the brand's store in Lisbon, but also online.