Annie Purdy at the Portuguese Embassy, Lfw SS26
On Thursday evening, the Portuguese Embassy opened not just to fashion week’s crowd of editors and insiders, but to a debut. Annie Purdy, the recent London College of Fashion graduate and winner of the inaugural Portuguese Footwear Award, unveiled her first standalone collection: six sculptural shoe designs produced in partnership with Portuguese brand JJ Heitor.
The collection, hand-crafted in Portuguese leathers, felt equal parts precision and poetry. Classic silhouettes were reimagined through experimental forms, each design carried an idea of balance, delicacy & heritage. “It was inspired by the relationship between craft and innovation,” Purdy notes, “looking at how traditional shoemaking skills can coexist with experimental, forward-thinking design.” The designer’s fresh aesthetic is also brought to life through highlighting the potential of “footwear as both a functional object and a storytelling medium, drawing on themes of resilience, adaptability and contemporary culture.”
The results leaned contemporary but grounded: shoes that held stories, without sacrificing their function. “It taught me to consider longevity, function and the lifecycle of a product from the outset,” she reflects, pointing to the ways her practice is shifting toward durability as much as aesthetics. “Going forward, I will continue to embed these considerations into my practice, ensuring my work always bridges narrative, design integrity, and sustainable responsibility.”
The Portuguese Footwear Award itself is young, launched earlier this year with a series of workshops led by Portuguese artisans and designer Bianca Saunders. But its ambition is clear: to pair rising voices with centuries of shoemaking expertise. For Purdy, that exchange proved formative, offering the freedom to push design into new territory while knowing each idea could be realised with technical precision. “Having access to their depth of material knowledge and high-quality manufacturing expertise allowed me to push my concepts further, knowing that they could be realised with precision and durability,” she says.
(Left) Annie Purdy, designer
For APICCAPS, the association behind the award, the evening was as much about showcasing Portuguese craftsmanship as it was about Purdy’s debut. Reflecting on the inaugural edition of the Portuguese Footwear Award, Purdy says, “No single designer can solve these challenges alone. It requires shared expertise, cross-disciplinary approaches and an open dialogue throughout the supply chain.”
In the Embassy, heritage and modernity were not in opposition. Purdy’s debut did not feel like a student stepping out, but like a designer creating her place in the industry. If the evening proved anything, it’s that when craft and imagination meet on equal terms, shoes become more than accessories, instead statements of intent.
APICCAPS’s mission also shone through the event, highlighting how the organisation “strengthens Portugal as a leader in cutting-edge technology and creativity” and “harnesses the best of craft and tradition” while continuing to invest in sustainable innovation through projects like BioShoes4All.
