(originally published 01.2007)

The Miguel Rios Design office emerged from the growing interest in the practical feasibility of design in industry, in the conception of clothing as items of protection and communication, their utilitarian and functional nature, and in issues related to intelligent garments. Thus, when it was set up in 2002, this office had the precedents of the designer Miguel Rios, who has been involved in the research and observation of the dynamics of dressing and the relation between the body and clothing, as an object. One of the aims of this site will therefore be to pass on information about these interests and references.

Currently, the team which comprises the MRD office is working on different projects, all of which are related to the adaptation of new technologies to the textile world. Its core business is design, by the team and by the strategic dynamics which constitute it. They aim to create and introduce onto the market products which in one way or another lie outside of the normal scope of items of clothing, of the ephemeral aspects which are usually associated to them, and to imbue those items with something which gives them a certain continuity through time and allows them, likewise, to communicate for themselves.

With all of the subjectivity which these themes may involve, with all of the complexity of references, Man has always imagined the future, has always projected images. A high technology world is developing, much faster than we may think, and the reality which the average citizen observes, with a greater or lesser degree of awareness, is seen in a different way by minds which equate more futuristic possible scenes. The truth is that 40 years ago no one imagined a world such as the one we have today. And that is obvious from many films and other art forms from different eras (hence the difference in the imagery of a 2001 Space Odyssey and a Blade Runner, for example). There are dangers we experience today and project into the future. Fiction meanders through viruses, contamination and terrorism. At the same time that we face this more dangerous world, the future also holds for us the pleasure of using new technologies associated with greater comfort and protection, more emotional aspects, and therefore more human. This office has been thinking about these issues for a long time. It has questioned itself about what life will be like, in practice, in a complex city, filled with unknowns. About how we may protect ourselves and live together as a society. Futuristic imagery is not a part only of cartoons. It can’t be.
Perpetually connected with cities, with urban and social issues, with architecture and urban culture, the interests of Miguel Rios have always lain between art and design, the evolution of the body and its possible adaptations to its surrounding environment, the changes this implies for the behaviour of individuals, the textile world and its constant transformations. Therefore, it is not surprising that some of his references are Sterlac and Lucy Orta. And that he should think of all of these issues solely in the light of the town and city.

Reading the various points on this website will help the visitor to understand the projects themselves, with the whole hermetic implicit in issues of intelligent wear, as well as to get to know those involved, the team itself. This communication platform will also serve as a means of expression for the various issues and events related to contemporary culture, written by different authors, depending on the themes. This page will, therefore, be a space for opinion.

Isabel Lindim
Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Universidade Autónoma of Lisbon in 1996. Between then and 2005, she has contributed to the magazines Grande Reportagem, Visão and DIF, as well as working as a journalist for Elle and as an editor of the on-line magazine Le Cool. She has also worked as a journalist for the television programme Pop Up, on RTP2, a programme about urban culture. She is currently collaborating with the magazines Elle and Le Cool, as well as writing press notes for various events, such as ModaLisboa.