Welcome! We are a creative lab and shop in Porto, Portugal. Here are some of our projects:

Feel Better Fashion

How are you feeling about fast fashion and the disposability of all things textile? For us, it’s pretty meh. (Or should we say scary.) What to do? How to feel part of the solution? Let’s stop making new stuff from iffy materials and use what we already have! Plus fix what needs it.

Here at LOONBEEK we’ve collected racks full of joyful, romantic, un-shy vintage items for your wearing delight. (Look closely, you might find a loving, visible mend.) You’ll also find racks dedicated to Alex Hart’s upcycled fashion collage. It’s hard to explain: Just come see it. Or check her IG account @allhartfashion for a strong hint.

Our hours aren’t yet fixed. Hey, it’s not easy being an artist and a shopkeeper. Different vibes, you know? But we love private appointments. Or catch us on a sunny day with the door wide open and DJ JustForUs music pulling you in!

True fact: We’re worth the trip. Rua do Almada, 517. (Next to the squiggly orange and green street art by @morcoizado.)

BTW our block in downtown Porto is growing vibrant indie businesses. Before or after your visit, check out Tia Tia for painterly, painstakingly delicious food. Or Louie Louie for choice vinyl and cassettes. Or Wild at Heart for 80s vintage fashion. And there’s much more!

Feel Better Books

Looking for stellar books in English? Come browse our shelves stacked with all-ages titles by Alex — poetry and picture books soaked with art and heart, plus early YA novels like “Mercedes,” which a recent happy reader called “the new Pippi Longstocking.” (Minus the red hair.) Grab a bistro chair and a fresh cup of tea, try a few pages of everything and see which one (or more!) fits your state of mind.

To learn more about our small press and upcoming titles, visit our website.

LOONBEEK
Magazine

Inside our first “book-a-zine” you’ll find an embarassment of riches: botanical art, fashion illustration, old books riddled with beautiful holes, essays about the lonely pandemic streets, mending socks, whether women are witches, and much more. Come grab your copy today!

About Us

Alex Hart is a self-taught multicreative, learning (and un-learning) as she goes. If it's something that uses her hands — writing, cutting & pasting, puppeting, treasure-hunting ... arranging flowers, massaging, baking, hair-cutting, yo-yo'ing, high-fiving — she's there and up to her elbows in concentrated work. Or should we call it play? Motto: Where possible, unplug that “dumb” brain.
Also: Trust, and go on hoping (Edward Lear).
Some of her personal gurus: Beatrix Potter, Alexander Calder, Alice Neel, Maurice Sendak, Amy Sedaris, Joseph Cornell, Ray Johnson, Pee Wee Herman, Reggie Watts............!!!

Jon Lackman is a rock-climbing coach and writer. He’s covered politics, science, and the arts for Harper's, The New Yorker, Slate, and Wired. He completed a PhD in art history from NYU and a fellowship at the MacDowell Colony. He's represented by Mary Krienke of Sterling Lord Literistic; contact her to publish his and Zack Pinson’s nonfiction graphic novel Maria, about the mind-boggling artist’s model / con artist Maria Lani!

︎ loonbeekers@gmail.com

Listen to “Eliot Ekans Has a Ball,” read by the author, Alex Hart

Listen to “Eliot Ekans Has a Ball,”
read by the author, Alex Hart