Fátima Lopes
Encyclopedia
Fátima Lopes, ComIH (born March 8, 1965) is a Portuguese
fashion designer.
Fátima comes from the Portuguese island of Madeira
. She was born and grew up in its capital city, Funchal
. Since an early age she showed an interest in fashion and during her adolescence, unhappy with what the shops had to offer in terms of clothing, started to design her own clothes. Being fluent in English
, French
and German
, she worked as a tourist guide for a local travel agency.
In 1990 Fátima moved to Lisbon
, where she believed she could better pursue a career as a fashion designer. With a friend she opened a boutique named "Versos", which sold mainly clothes from international designers. In 1992 the boutique changed its name to "Fátima Lopes" and in that year the Fátima Lopes brand was born. In September of the same year, she participated in a fashion show made in an old convent in Lisbon (Convento do Beato), where her work was widely applauded.
In 1994 she exhibited her collection in Paris
at the "Salon du Prêt-à-Porter Feminin". Two years later she opened her first international store in Paris, located in the famous rue de Grenelle. At the same time she began to diversify her collections by creating bags and shoes for both men and women.
In December 1998, she started the management of the model agency "FACE MODELS" in Lisbon.
In the year 2000 she caused a media sensation by appearing on a catwalk herself in Paris wearing the world's most expensive bikini, made out of gold
and diamond
s, with an estimated value of one million dollars
. In 2003 she opened her first brand store in the United States
, located in Melrose Avenue
in the city of Los Angeles
.
She worked on the design of the official suit of the 2006 Portuguese football World Cup team
.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
fashion designer.
Fátima comes from the Portuguese island of Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
. She was born and grew up in its capital city, Funchal
Funchal
Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
. Since an early age she showed an interest in fashion and during her adolescence, unhappy with what the shops had to offer in terms of clothing, started to design her own clothes. Being fluent in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, she worked as a tourist guide for a local travel agency.
In 1990 Fátima moved to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, where she believed she could better pursue a career as a fashion designer. With a friend she opened a boutique named "Versos", which sold mainly clothes from international designers. In 1992 the boutique changed its name to "Fátima Lopes" and in that year the Fátima Lopes brand was born. In September of the same year, she participated in a fashion show made in an old convent in Lisbon (Convento do Beato), where her work was widely applauded.
In 1994 she exhibited her collection in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the "Salon du Prêt-à-Porter Feminin". Two years later she opened her first international store in Paris, located in the famous rue de Grenelle. At the same time she began to diversify her collections by creating bags and shoes for both men and women.
In December 1998, she started the management of the model agency "FACE MODELS" in Lisbon.
In the year 2000 she caused a media sensation by appearing on a catwalk herself in Paris wearing the world's most expensive bikini, made out of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s, with an estimated value of one million dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
. In 2003 she opened her first brand store in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, located in Melrose Avenue
Melrose Avenue
Melrose Avenue is an internationally renowned shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake...
in the city of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
She worked on the design of the official suit of the 2006 Portuguese football World Cup team
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...
.