Helena Antonia Silva studied law and later social innovation and entrepreneurship. She was looking for a suitable project for her final thesis. This became Vintage for a Cause. At the time, she was living in the center of Porto, in a house where some elderly women lived alone and quite isolated. Helena's idea was to bring these women together with designers and make something out of their seldom or never worn clothes and give them and their clothes a new meaning ...

     
    I really wanted to be there when Sharon presented her fashion. It worked out in December 2024. I met the ecofashion designer from northern Uganda virtually through a friend who is involved in a social project there. A few days before the show, we visit the place where Sharon works. She takes us into a large, single-storey warehouse with lots of small, cubicle-like rooms. Hundreds of people, it seems, are working here, cutting, taking measurements, sitting at sewing machines, bales of colorful fabrics and sewing utensils everywhere ... 

    I can only recommend a slow fashion tour to get to know Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It was my first time in Africa and the first few days were overwhelming. The colors, the smells, the dust (it hardly rains at this time of the year), the hustle and bustle of the people, the density of small and micro shops and different vehicles, the plastic garbage lying around, the different living conditions, the peace and friendliness of the people, the good food. There is hardly time to process all the images and experiences, because the next ones are already following ...