Born and raised on the island of Madeira, Maria do Carmo left for London to study at Central Saint Martins, graduating in Fashion Design Womenswear in 2019. She went on to work at A.F. Vandevorst and Acne Studios before launching her own brand in 2021.

But what drew us to Maria wasn’t only her résumé. It was her decision to return.

We meet her in her studio in the centre of Funchal. Sunlight fills the space as she reflects on London — the pace, the pressure, the pull of the industry — and what it taught her. And then, she talks about coming home.

“I want to be an example,” she tells Pien. “You don’t have to leave your hometown to find work. Making an impact locally is just as important as building a career in the big city.”
In a world that constantly encourages movement — climbing, relocating, chasing what’s next — Maria chose a different direction. She chose to invest her energy back into the island that raised her. To create and build from here.

Her work carries the feeling of summer — tactile, expressive, alive — but her presence on Madeira holds something deeper. A quiet conviction that success doesn’t only live in capitals. That it can be shaped, slowly and intentionally, closer to home.
Through Maria, we see another side of the island: not somewhere to leave, but somewhere to grow.