About Us

Vanessa Monteiro Design (VMD) is a brand, with an atelier and commercial space in the heart of Mindelo, São Vicente Island, Cabo Verde, which was born in June 2019. The name is homonymous to the designer, owner, creative director and brand manager. VMD focuses on the development of design pieces that find in the surrounding context the motto for creations that begin with clothing collections and that unfold in multiple mediums, the different techniques serve to express reflections and concerns of the designer.

Vanessa Monteiro Design is the brand that seeks through her pieces to tell stories that not only inspire the public, but also alert to issues that are worth seeing and reflecting about. From clothing to ceramics, through various other means, the objects created are palpable memories and symbols of experiences that although start with one person meet with several others, generating new dialogues.

Vanessa Monteiro Design is a brand that is governed by a slow step, both in the conceptualization of authorial projects and in production not hostage of a fast pace.

Feel welcome!

Vanessa Monteiro has a degree in Fashion Design and a Master in Branding and Fashion Design. Since 2019 she is creative director and manager of the atelier/store Vanessa Monteiro Design, in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde, and as an independent designer develops a close relationship with local crafts, creating authorial pieces that start from the surrounding context.

Vanessa has two clothing collections, ‘Women Car(ry)e It All’, 2017 and ‘Di Terra’, 2014, both produced and presented in the city of Mindelo. As a designer, collaborations are a way to grow and explore new possibilities. Through the artistic collective Neve Insular (2018), where she is co-author together with Rita Rainho, she performs shared functions in the artistic direction and production of the projects developed. In SOCA (2023), a project with Eneida Lombe Tavares, a bridge was created between Mindelo, Cape Verde and Caldas da Rainha (Portugal), a residence that weaved friendships, geographies and knowledge through design and basketry. Contrabond (2020) is the grog (rum) brand that reaches the Cabo Verdean market, with an image and visual identity created by the designer.

Her professional career has five years of experience in the public institution National Centre for Art, Craft and Design - CNAD (Cabe Verde), the functions of fashion editor of GQ Portugal magazine, costume designer for the Dance Company from Almada, and uniform design for the health sector as well as for sports.