Cristiana
Costa

Fashion Designer born in Lisbon and graduated from the University of Beira Interior (UBI) in Covilhã where she currently teaches. Developed Näz during her master’s degree as a project with the objective to leverage the region's industry through creating fashion locally and by using eco-friendly materials.

Her project received funding and was awarded by Yves Rocher Terre de Femme, Startup-Voucher, Spin+ and several others. Currently, Cristiana is focused on improving the brand and reducing company’s environmental impact.

PROJECT

We are a sustainable fashion brand located in Portugal with a 100% local production that works with environmentally friendly fabrics, deadstock from the industry and recycled fabrics. We are always looking for the best way to produce clothing.

This is the 3rd year of the brand, it began in Covilhã, the mountainous part of Portugal. Historically, Covilhã has had a strong textile industry which nowadays is weak and barely working. This tradition is however is a huge part of our project because, with some local partners we are developing fabrics and knits made out of recycled wool. In that way we are developing a circular economy while maintaining the traditional. Our communication is completely transparent. We want our customers to know that a piece of clothing impacts a lot of lives. With video and image content available on our website one can truly learn and feel how a garment is produced and can meet people behind it. Our goal as a brand is to reduce our environmental impact while generating a positive social impact.

During my master’s degree in textile design, I’ve met people who spend all their life working in the textile industry. It hit me that the textile industry in Portugal was declining and all those people would lose their jobs since most of the brands are producing outside of Europe. My research of the Portuguese markets showed the lack of local sustainable brands and lack of fair fashion choice for conscious customers. And this is how Näz was born.

MOTIVATION FOR AND COMMITMENT TO CREATING A BETTER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE PLANET

We humans are made of love and we should be surrounded by love as well, so why are we covering ourselves from the world with a product made from exploitation of the environment and people? Näz was born to create an alternative to garments that destroy the world we live in and the people that make it. We create fashion that creates a positive impact on the society and also works with textile companies and helps them to reduce their environmental impact.

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