Fátima Lopes, ComIH (born 8 March 1965) is a Portuguese

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

Early life

Fátima comes from the Portuguese island of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

. She was born and grew up in its capital city,

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

. 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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, she worked as a tourist guide for a local travel agency. In 1990 Fátima moved to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, 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 () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

s, with an estimated value of one million dollars. In 2003 she opened her first brand store in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located in

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue (sometimes referred to simply as "Melrose") is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles, California, starting at Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills and W ...

in the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She worked on the design of the official suit of the 2006 Portuguese football World Cup team.

External links

Official website
*
Her model agency official site "FACE MODELS"

FashionWindows
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Fatima Portuguese fashion designers Portuguese businesspeople in fashion 1965 births Living people People from Funchal Madeiran fashion designers Golden Globes (Portugal) winners