Some places don't fit on a postcard. Póvoa is one of them. So when we started thinking about 080AYA's second collection, the question wasn't "what does Póvoa have to show?", it was "what is Póvoa to the people who are from there?".
Home
If the first collection, Temps al Temps, was about a place where we lived, the second had to be about the place that two of 080AYA's three founders come from. Ala-Arriba is our collection dedicated to Póvoa de Varzim.
From its fishing culture to the annual rituals of a town that welcomes its 'banhistas' (seaside bathers) every year, Póvoa's cultural heritage makes us proud and fills us up.
What we wanted to say with Ala-Arriba
We wanted to go beyond the striped beach huts, as beautiful as they are. They're there, in the illustration on the t-shirt and in the blue and white stripes of the tote and the bucket hat. But the heart of the collection is the text on the back: an emotional map of Póvoa made of people, faith, accent and food.
It's all there: the 4490 and "Poveirinhos pela graça de Deus". There's the Cego do Maio, the fisherman who saved dozens of lives at sea and whom the poveiros call a hero. There's Eça de Queirós, the tricana, "Tchó" and "Que dizes", rabanada and trinchada, and the sea that rolls onto the sand. If you're from Póvoa, you recognise everything. If you're not, you'll want to ask.
Belonging, not souvenirs
We often say we don't make tourist keepsakes. We make pieces for people who belong, whether that's someone who never left Póvoa, someone who emigrated and carries the 4490 in their longing, or someone who discovered it one summer and never let go.
That's why every piece has a role:
- The t-shirt tells the whole story.
- The tote brings the stripes into everyday life.
- The bucket hat reinterprets the beach huts in a more graphic way.
- The cap is the entry point, with the embroidered wordmark.
If you wear an Ala-Arriba piece and someone asks what's written on the back, tell them the story. That's what it's for.