Words: Ilídia Pinto
In early 2025, it arrived in New York with a pop-up at the MoMA Design Store
Among the many who work to promote all things Portuguese and the fine craftsmanship of national artisans, A Vida Portuguesa is undoubtedly one of the most prominent showcases of this mastery. This is thanks to Catarina Portas’s determination not to let traditional products at risk of disappearing be lost to time. As the company’s website puts it: “A Vida Portuguesa was born out of a desire to catalogue brands that have stood the test of time, to restore the value of Portuguese manufacturing and to reveal Portugal in a surprising way”.
It was in 2007 that Catarina Portas, then a journalist, had the idea of writing a book about everyday life in Portugal and went in search of vintage products. As she recounts, she visited factories, explored brands and discovered that many of these items were “largely forgotten”. She began by creating small Christmas hampers, and their success encouraged her to take things further. She promoted the relaunch of the ceramic swallows made from the original moulds of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, and convinced Viarco, an iconic Portuguese pencil brand, to reissue some of its classic packaging. And in 2007, she began launching A Vida Portuguesa exclusives — the first of which were the “Stick-on Swallows”.
Today, A Vida Portuguesa works with 500 active suppliers across the country and keeps nearly 5,000 items in it stock, ranging from textiles to food, toys, books, glass, and ceramics. Many of these are collections developed exclusively by Catarina Portas and her team. Ach.Brito and Claus Porto, Viana do Castelo embroidery, Gorreana tea, Regina chocolates, Nally creams, Espinheira GinJinha, Moura Alves vinegar, Sanjo and Viúva Lamego are some of the many brands that delight visitors to A Vida Portuguesa.
The first store opened in Chiado, in May 2007, followed by the first Porto location in November 2009, near the Clérigos church, in partnership with Ach.Brito, the century-old soap and perfume manufacturer. Neither of these stores still exist, but they have been replaced by several new ones, all in premium locations chosen to help promote Portuguese culture. The most recent, a return to Chiado, is housed in the former Férin bookstore, which was founded in 1840. In Intendente, A Vida Portuguesa has been based for the past ten years in the former Viúva Lamego factory, offering “more than 6,000 items of Portuguese craftsmanship” and where visitors can admire more than 100 years of Viúva Lamego tiles on the walls.
Smaller, but equally special, are the A Vida Portuguesa outlets at the Time Out Market Lisboa and Time Out Porto. There is also a fifth store, but with a different spirit altogether. O Depozito, a collaboration with Portugal Manual, has transformed the 400 square metres of a former foundry into a traditional craft store that sits side by side with work by a new generation of artisans. And there’s the online store, which delivers worldwide — from Australia to Finland, Switzerland to the United States, and many other destinations.
In January 2025, the year it came of age, A Vida Portuguesa arrived in New York, with a pop-up at the MoMA Design Store. But that wasn’t all. It also launched a new edition of the book Antigos, Genuínos e Deliciosa Produtos de Criação Portuguesa (published in English as Old, Genuine and Delicious Products of Portuguese Creation), with the support of the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, which tells the story of 40 products and brands the store represents. The illustrations were created by Jorge Colombo, one of Portugal’s most internationally renowned illustrators, who has worked regularly with publications such as The New Yorker, for which he created the magazine’s first cover to be drawn on a smartphone.
When asked about her plans to open up her own spaces in other markets, Catarina Portas acknowledges that some products — especially foodstuffs — are not easy to export. “We have already had a lot of offers, and who knows, they might still come to fruition one day. But our focus is in Portugal. And the truth is that for almost 20 years now, we’ve served as a kind of showroom for Portuguese brands and production. A lot of international stores discover products when they visit one of our stores in Portugal, and then go on to order them to sell in their own countries. We love sharing Portuguese craftsmanship with the world”, she concludes.
