Every year, dozens of talented people graduate from the Footwear Industry Vocational Training Centre (CFPIC — Centro de Formação Profissional da Indústria de Calçado). Students who are ready to enter an industry that already employs 40,000.

From design to production, from management to the commercial department, CFPIC’s role is global as it seeks to train new generations working in the Portuguese footwear industry. For a number of years, CFPIC has trained some of Portugal’s most important footwear designers, and holds a prominent position in the training, both artistic and technical, of these youngsters. But that’s not all. CFPIC is also an important partner in the professional training of workers and in supporting the footwear industry.

With the Oliva Creative Factory in S. João da Madeira as a backdrop, with the look of Pedro Afonso and styling of Fernando Bastos Pereira, six CFPIC students gave form to the work of their colleagues.

In this edition of Hot New Talents, we present the work of design students Ana Ribeiro, Érica Soares, Ruben França, João Dias, Cristina Maruxo, Diana Rodrigues, Andreia Lourenço and Sérgio Conceição with the support of APIC, under the project PT Leather InDesign, represented by Elma, Neiva, Aicizy, Tópico, Luís Manuel and Bendzer.

Dreams can come true, often much quicker than we imagine and in the most unpredictable ways. The desire to showcase the work of colleagues set the tone for this edition of Hot New Talents.

In 2021, the CFPIC board brought 150 young people from São Tomé and Príncipe to Portugal, where they would study and work in all aspects of the footwear industry, from production to administration. Young people with big dreams and a passion for the industry, who accepted the challenge of putting on some new shoes and being the face of their colleagues’ work.