Benilde Reis

Benilde Reis is an Assistant Professor and researcher in Fashion Design at Lusófona University. She holds a Bachelor's (2011) and Master's (2013) in Fashion Design from the University of Beira Interior (UBI), and a PhD in Fashion Design (2020) from UBI. Her professional experience includes roles as a pattern-cutting assistant at Twintex, fashion design researcher for the U.MAKE.ID B2B platform (2016-2018), and temporary lecturer at UBI (2016-2020). From 2018-2020, she contributed to the TEXBOOST project developing wool-based textiles for activewear.

Her research focuses on:

• Genderless clothing design and social paradigms
• 3D digital/virtual garment construction
• Patternmaking innovation for inclusive fashion
• Sustainable functional textiles (particularly wool applications)
• Digital transformation in fashion education and industry

Her 15 most recent publications (2021-2025) demonstrate strong interdisciplinary approaches, blending fashion design with sociology, material science, and digital technologies. Dominant themes include genderless fashion theory, functional wool textiles, sustainable design methodologies, patternmaking pedagogy, and 3D virtual fashion. Notably, she explores cultural heritage preservation through textile techniques like Santa Clara Trapology.

She leads the personal project The Unafashionable Worth of Fashion (theworthoffashion.com), analyzing fashion's socio-political and artistic influences.