La Paz

La Paz began in Porto in 2011, started by José Miguel de Abreu and André Bastos Teixeira as a menswear label rooted in Portugal's Atlantic coastline. Rather than inventing a house aesthetic from scratch, the pair spent time visiting old regional factories and combing local archives for garments tied to specific corners of the country: the striped fishing shirts worn along the coast at Nazaré, the heavy wool capote cloak of the Alentejo plains, and the chunky knitwear produced in the mountain village workshops of Serra da Estrela. Those research trips shaped the brand's approach — reissuing or reinterpreting traditional Portuguese workwear pieces for a contemporary wardrobe, rather than following seasonal fashion cycles. Comfort, durability and functionality sit at the center of the label's design brief, with an emphasis on materials suited to a maritime climate: waxed cottons, technical wools and heavyweight knits. All of La Paz's collections are manufactured in Portugal, keeping production tied to the same regional ateliers and mills that originally inspired the brand's founders. Since its founding, the label has been covered by outlets including Monocle for its approach to reviving Portuguese textile heritage through a modern menswear lens, positioning La Paz within a wider generation of Portuguese labels working directly with the country's surviving textile factories.