alexandra It was not planned at all. I was studying Sciences, between animal biology and astronomy but already had a taste for art and that aesthetic side. During a trip to London, I realized that fashion was a way for me to communicate a place where I did not fit in. In other words, I always had a different idea of how to see the body and clothing, and at that time in Portugal, it caused a lot of strangeness.

Taking that trip and discovering the school of Japanese designers like Comme des Garçons, thanks to a book I found in a bookstore in London, made me realize that the way we see and communicate through clothing does not have to be a standardized, massified thing. We can have our own identity. We can work on silhouettes, textures, volumes. That fascinated me, and I ended up leaving science and going into fashion design. I was a shy person, and fashion was a way for me to communicate my ideas, my universes, my concepts to the world.

alexandra Since I was very young, I always looked for different things, including sneakers in Portugal. In the 90s, there wasn’t much variety, and there was no internet, so on many of the trips I took, I tried to find different sneakers. That made me like them more and more, and I was beginning to understand them more and more. It’s a passion that is always growing. All my life, I wore sneakers, and now being able to think, design, and create them is incredible!

alexandra I think the country hasn’t helped me much, and it may seem strange to say, but sometimes Portugal is not the best of friends to the Portuguese. Doors open faster for foreign brands than for Portuguese brands. It’s easier to say yes to a foreign brand than to a Portuguese one. So it’s never an easy job. We need to make a name, get some recognition abroad to start being noticed here.

But Portugal undoubtedly has an incredible industrial sector for textiles, clothing, and footwear! I think over the years, the openness and understanding of design and the design of things have started to gain strength. Companies that manufacture are beginning to want to have their own brands, which means they value design. But it is still not an easy country for the Portuguese, which is a pity because we have incredible know-how and incredible quality.

It means a lot for independent brands and many footwear brands to have the “Made in Portugal” label. I think what is missing is more investment in designers, and just the pure design side of things. Opening more space, and not not being so afraid. In the past, there was this culture of “we know how to do it but we don’t know how to create, so let’s copy.” And I think that, today the country has so many creatives that we need to take advantage of that. To create, to build a culture like other countries have, such as France or England, which is the culture of making but also the culture of creating. It’s a perfect combination, and I think Portugal should take more advantage of that.

I think it is improving; we have the example of Sanjo, don’t we? Suddenly they opened the doors to design and designers. But I think there is still a bit of work to be done in this regard.

alexandra It was perfect. Sanjo wanted to be reborn, more modern, more contemporary. They wanted to talk about design and not just be a sneaker that lasted over time but was always just that. They needed to refresh the design of the sneakers, and it was wonderful because Sanjo gave me total freedom to create my craziness. They tried to execute all the ideas, some easier to implement, others were more difficult.

It was beautiful, very good synergy and partnership because there were no cuts from either side. When they told me, “Alexandra, here we might need to change because the machine…” I would say, “perfect, let’s change, let’s work together to find the best way to get around the situation.” Since they and Vitor are as crazy as I am over there, every time I came up with a crazy idea, they would say, “let’s go!” And so we managed to do things that in some way I think were different and very innovative, especially for what is usually made in Portugal. It was a perfect marriage.

This was the first collaboration in which we explored the brand’s monogram. And for the first time, Vitor was exploring the possibility of printing on the midsole itself. So it was the perfect method because we wanted a monogram block on the sneaker and we were able to develop it. That was the first collab.

Here we have  more of an experimental side with the holes, and that has a lot to do with the deconstruction of clothing as well. In this collection, we created the concept of placing elements that would normally be inside the sneaker on the outside. So all the labels came out, we deconstructed the sneaker itself with the foams, reinforcements on the outside, and the tongue turned upside down. There were many details that started in the first collab and then continued in the following collabs.

alexandra Because it is one of Sanjo’s most classic sneakers. One thing we try to work a lot on within the brand are traditional items. In this case, it is original to Portugal, and since I was a child, I remember the K100 not as a Sanjo sneaker but just as the K100, and for me, that was the definition of the brand. It didn’t make sense to try to innovate a new form or sole, so I wanted to stick with the K100 because it was the icon of the Sanjo brand. There isn’t a single person in Portugal who doesn’t know what this Sanjo silhouette is. My idea was then to deconstruct it—without removing Sanjo’s identity but deconstructing it with details and characteristics that are also from the Alexandra Moura brand and combining the silhouette with this deconstruction in the details.

Since we were doing a partnership, it was important to have Alexandra Moura’s DNA but also Sanjo’s DNA, and together create a new product. Therefore, I couldn’t totally change the shape because it is iconic for Sanjo. But I could bring other layers and other details that Sanjo never had.

alexandra I hope they understand what it means to work on your own signature design. One thing is when we have more mass-produced models like Nike, Vans, New Balance, Adidas. When the fashion designer enters as the protagonist, I hope people understand that we come to add something more to the model, something that is differentiating from what is seen in the rest of the market. Because for me as a designer, it didn’t make sense to just make a sanjo Sanjo shoe, for example, and simply change the color or just change the materials. I had to add something more because it’s a partnership. That’s what I want people to understand, that we bring added value to the product, something different that probably cannot be found in mass products, something special that belongs to that sneaker brand and to the fashion brand.

And that’s why it’s a special product. And I think this is what is most valuable in collaborations with fashion designers, as well as with musicians or whatever. We bring a different idea, a deconstruction, a concept. This was well thought out with both parties, us and in this case, Sanjo. And that says a lot more than if it was just a conventional sneaker.

alexandra Because they are the colors that have accompanied the Alexandra Moura brand forever. If I have two pairs of black sneakers, it’s a lot, I have these and some Yeezys. White because it is a passion I have for white sneakers. I love it because I have that fetish of someone who lived in the 90s with the dirty and worn-out white All Star. I love it when a white sneaker has a lot of personality and wear. I know that today in the new generation, it is almost blasphemy (laughs). I see that with my son and even from my husband that the sneakers have to be super impeccably clean. Not me. I like it all scuffed and dirty from all the wear. So I had to have the white sneaker and the black one because it is the brand’s color.

I always worked, despite having a lot of color, I always have blocks of black. I almost always dress all in black. It’s that color that I can’t disconnect from. And it was also a way to bring this brand personality to the sneaker as the brand works a lot with these two colors. I also wanted it to have a more minimal and conceptual side in terms of color because the sneaker already had so much information on other levels. It feels more raw this way.

alexandra I have several, whether they’re Adidas or Nikes. There are great silhouettes and collabs that I love. For example, I have the pink Monarch by Martine Rose with Nike, which has that chunkier, more deformed look. I really like the Nike Sox collab with Supreme. I really like that grotesque and primordial side; it almost looks like something from a caveman, the Yeezy 550. These collabs are treasures. There are so many incredible collaborations, and all of them bring, because of the designer behind them, an incredible added value to the sneaker—if it weren’t for Martine Rose’s intervention, it would just be another Nike Monarch.

I’ve had many phases of sneakers; I’ve had the All Star phase, and now I’m very much in love with New Balances too. Junya Watanabe’s collaboration with New Balance is also beautiful. If I could, I would have a house just for sneakers. In fact, they already take up a lot of space (laughs). Our house is already packed because my husband is also addicted to sneakers, and now I have another 15-year-old addict, my son, who is in his Nike TN phase. The truth is, we are all totally addicted to sneakers (laughs).

alexandra I think in Portugal there is still a lot of fear of taking risks and accepting them. The industrialists are very afraid of taking risks; they prefer to do what is safe, with less damage and more money. But they also don’t move forward. And I think Sanjo, with these partnerships, has already started to elevate the level of design. And that’s very good. I would love for these sneakers to have gone further. But they are still very afraid. Vitor and I would tell Helder, the owner of Sanjo at the time, “let’s go, let’s go,” but the answer was, “the market isn’t ready.” And it was funny that we did this, and a few months later, Off-White released the Nike with holes.

Alexandra Moura x Sanjo K100
Owner: Alexandra Moura
Sneaker release year: 2020
Photos: Kickstory
Color Grading: Julio Nery