We are an award winning commercial project with a social and environmental mission that combines purpose, creativity and entrepreneurship and encourages a more sustainable and circular economy. Part of our profits are invested in mentoring and consulting with individuals and micro-small businesses in the exploration of their potential, mapping of their passions and business ideas, and train them. Join us!

@cadeireira #cadeireira #traditionalcrafterscontemporarythinkers #wasteintovalue #desperdicioemvalor #tailoringforchairs #alfaiatariaparacadeiras #makeandgather #capitalhumano

Click here for our “How it all started” video (Portuguese narrative)

Olá – thank you so much for your interest in what we’re doing.

My name is Carla Costa, and I founded aCADEIREIRA from a desire to do something that combined purpose, creativity and entrepreneurship. The idea came at the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2007 when levels of unemployment soared, and I decided to take the plunge at the end of 2013.

The story so far I was born & raised in Portugal by paternal grandparents as my mum had to work and my dad was away in the army during the colonial conflicts in Africa. Grandad [avô Inácio] was a master tailor in Vila Franca de Xira and he owned the only seamstress school for young ladies at the time in the county. I recall spending hours on end watching him advising customers, taking measurements, cutting beautiful wool fabrics & fur, and sew elegant suits and traditional Portuguese winter coats called “Samarras”. My maternal grandfather also lived in the same village, equally very popular in his trade as a traditional barber – he had an especially small chair in his shop where I sat listening to his customer’s stories while they waited for a wet shave and a shoe polish.

Having a very traditional yet different upbringing had a huge impact on my values and beliefs, and I always humbly look back when I need to put things into perspective. Those values have always been the inspiration and catalyst to turn life upside down when I have been in need of different perspectives.

I swapped Lisboa for London in 1996 to work in marketing for the creative industries. I was energised by the progressive British culture, full of opportunities that allowed me to learn loads, meet & work with incredibly bright people, be rewarded for good work, and work and travel around the globe – which fit my nomadic lifestyle from a young age. I made friendships for life, and learned from communities of fantastic people from different walks of life.

As time passes by and one gets older (and ideally wiser), an urgency to add more purpose to what I do took over.

And so. Here we are. Whilst continuing to be part of the mad man folk of this world with a special focus on mentoring and consulting with individuals, start-ups and micro-small businesses – our intention is, through the creation and sale of aCADEIREIRA’s products and services, to take our impact in society to the next level (yours and mine), to ultimately help tackle unemployment and raise awareness for the environment. It’s an exciting, challenging yet very fulfilling journey.

Adopted by London | Made of more in Lisbon After more than 20 years away, this is my way of building a bridge home, never forgetting I was adopted by London, and metamorphosed into someone who, I’d like to think, has the best of both worlds in her DNA.

“It takes team work to make a dream work” If, like me, you have a deep interest in the preservation of craftmanship, circular economy, social entrepreneurship and wish to make a greater impact through what you love doing, then please get in touch and be part of this wonderfully tough journey.

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Carla has over 20 years experience in the fields of advertising, marketing and business strategy, leading large and small teams and working at board level for clients and agencies. In parallel, she shares a passion for heritage, architecture & restorative design, artisanship and circular economy. In her spare time she specialised in traditional and modern upholstery with the British Association of Master Upholsterers after qualifying as an Interior Designer. She describes upholstery as ‘tailoring for chairs’ – being her way of somehow wearing her grandfather’s shoes -, and as an important component of reducing waste by restoring and re-purposing seating furniture items whilst using sustainable and high quality materials.

Carla is a member of the Heritage Crafts Association in England, has won an Entrepreneurship and Innovation award recognition by Fundação AEP (Association of Portuguese Entrepreneurs), Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros e Alto Commissariado para as Migrações, and the is fully trained and certified by:

– the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)

– Google Programme – Post-Grad in Digital Marketing

– KLC, School of Design (Interiors)

– the British Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers