FFWMAG #39

Aline Weber photographed by Henrique Gendre and art by Lane Marinho N°39 • 2015 • R$19,90

Giovanni Bianco ∙ Nicolas Ghesquière ∙ Joan Didion ∙ Erika Palomino ∙ Bob Wolfenson Janaina Tschäpe ∙ Miranda July ∙ João Pimenta ∙ Gregorio Duvivier ∙ Boogarins ∙ Lovefoxxx Alice Caymmi ∙ Davi Ramos ∙ Eduardo Pombal ∙ Marina Morena ∙ Esmir Filho ∙ Rico Dalasam #amomoda amobr asil

18

28

Fast x slow

Joan Didion

24

Je suis Ghesquière

38

Lovefoxxx

42

Miranda July

30

Janaina Tschäpe

summary 46

60

Keiichi Tanaami

Best friend forever

50

Givenchy Girl

74

Black Panther

68

João, Ebson, Vinicius, Anderson

52

Coolness

82

She’s my gilr | I’m her boy

120

A single man

108

138

129

152

158

#Boyhood

Woman on top

Graphic games

154

Rico Dalasam

Shamir

Boogarins

164

Alice Caymmi

170

Esmir Filho

172

Think Gregorio Duvivier

188

AteliĂŞ Eduardo Pombal

176

Conversation with Giovanni Bianco

182

Conversation with Erika Palomino

Adriano Damas

C

O

Ana Wainer

Anne Raybaud

Photographer, born in Londrina, Paraná. Photography is what fuels him. Among the difficulties of being a photographer, he says the greatest is “waking up too early for a shooting”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “Stay home and watch movies on a Saturday night”. He says he is more fast than slow: “My head doesn’t stop for one minute”. To decelerate, he practices sports and, when he can, travels. @adrianodamas

Paulistana, she is a stylist and editor-in-chief of MAIS55MAG. Being a stylist is “expressing a fashion point of view through a picture”. Professional hazards: “Working until 3 or 4 am. Sometimes I have so much to do that I go weeks without a decent night of sleep”. She thinks that following trends isn’t the best way to show character. To slow down, she does ashtanga yoga and camps at a beach with no electricity or cellular reception. @anawainer

She is a stylist and fashion consultant. She is from Marseille, but lives in São Paulo. Being a stylist is “telling stories, having fun, creating dreams”. Anne’s next project is a handbag line for Ninon de la Caze. According to her, the worst about her profession is “being torn between her desires and client’s wishes”. She likes Kim Kardashian’s reality show: “I know; it’s embarrassing”. Instinctive and accelerated, she says she doesn’t follow trends: “Trends come and go, style stays”. @ninondelacaze

Bob Wolfenson

Cristiano Madureira

Paulistano photographer. To him, photographing is “seeing the world in a frame”. Among his next projects are an exhibition and a new book, in 2016.

Occupational hazards: “Accomplish other people’s desires”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “Okra”. He is superfast. About following trends: “I couldn’t if I tried”. To decelerate, he travels to his country house on the mountains. @bobwolfenson

For this paulistano photographer, photographing is “a great privilege”. His next personal project is the launch of his second book. Occupational hazards: “Curiosity, study, respect. And patience with who insists there is an immutable ‘right and wrong’ about things”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “Not having a TV at home”. He is not into fashion trends and, to decelerate, he reads books: “Reading, always”. @madureiracristiano

B

O

D

Fe Pinheiro

Photographer and PhD in anthropology. He is from Rio, but lives in Paris. For him, photographing is “observing”. He says he has several projects on the way, “but unfortunately I can’t tell yet”. What he likes that almost no one else does is “Gypsy/beatnik life…”. For him, in his profession, “you have to be patient”.

He doesn’t follow trends: “I don’t follow any artistic movement”. He is “fast and slow, depending on the day”.

To slow down, cigarettes and jazz. @fepinheiro

O

Gabriela Splendore

Gustavo Ipolito

Henrique Gendre

Stylist, lives between São Paulo and London. For her, being a stylist is “being part of the construction of beautiful images”. At the moment, she is producing the fourth edition of collaborative platform storiecollective.com.

Occupational hazards: “People don’t realize, but it involves a lot of legwork”. What she likes that almost no one else does: “English humor”. About following fashion trends: “The important thing is finding a style that represents you”. To slow down, she travels. @gabrielasplendore

For him, photographing is: “My life. I always catch myself photographing what I see, even without a camera”. Paulistano, he says that waking up too early is the hardest thing about his métier. What he likes that almost no one else does: “The album St. Anger, from Metallica”. About fashion trends: “I always wear black and white. I wear what makes me feel comfortable”. To slow down, “I try to grab a drink with friends”. @gustavoipolito

Photographer, born in Mozambique, lives in New York. For him, photographing is “being a witness and directing at the same time”. Among the hazards of the profession, the worst is: “Being away from family”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “Travelling to cold places”. He says he only follows trends when it suits him. He is someone “definitively slow”. To decelerate, he turns to books: “Reading is always good”. @henriquegendre

L

A

Heretic

Lane Marinho

Ludovic Carème

Luke Frost is from Guildford, England. Therese Vandling is from Goteborg, Sweden. The duo runs London based studio Heretic, where they do illustrations, design and serigraphy. For them, illustrating is “telling a story through pictures”. They claim to be fast and slow. “We like the artisanal process, but sometimes we grow impatient. London is a fast city, but we try to have a relaxed lifestyle”. @hereticprintmakers

She is a designer-artisan, born in Salvador, Bahia.

For Lane, painting and illustrating is “making poetry in colors”. This year, she intends to continue studying the process of artisanal shoemaking in Paris. Professional hazard: “I work with very slow processes while we live in a world ruled by speed.

It is a daily paradox”. To slow down, she meditates and contemplates nature as often as she can. @lanemarinho

French photographer. Born in Paris, he lives in São Paulo. About his occupation, he says: “A photographer’s work is very lonely, but at the same time it only becomes possible if shared with partners and collaborators”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “The difference”. He sees fashion editorials as style exercises and as possibilities to experiment. To decelerate, he turns to photography and reading. @ludovic_careme

Marcio Simnch

R

Renata Corrêa

Photographer born in Giruá, Rio Grande do Sul. He says he doesn’t quite know what it means to photograph, but he believes that, “at least, it’s to show things from a different perspective, sometimes lighter, others darker”. Among professional hazards, the hardest thing is “waking up early”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “Excel tables”.

He doesn’t follow fashion trends and, to slow down, he plays backgammon. @marcio.simnch

A

Ricardo dos Anjos

Mineira from Belo Horizonte, the stylist is preparing a communication fashion project for the internet. For her, being a stylist is “turning a project into an image”. Professional hazards are “egos’ hazards”. What she likes that almost no one else does: “You can’t be prejudiced towards anything; trends come and go”. According to Renata, “people who work in fashion develop their own sense of style”. To slow down, she reads. @renatacorrea

Beauty artist, born in Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro.

For him, being a beauty artist is: “My life”. About new professional projects, he says he is “just following the flow”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “Forbidden Funk”. About following fashion trends, he says he feels the clothes as an extension of his body. “In my case, fashion is occasional.” He doesn’t know if he is fast or slow. To decelerate, he spends time with Gabriel. @rickydosanjos

R

E

S

Robert Estevão

Thiago Ferraz

Vivian Whiteman

Makeup artist and hairdresser. He is from Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro. Being a beauty artist is “being able to work with what I have always loved”.

Occupational hazards are “waking up too early, sometimes before dawn”. What he likes that almost no one else does: “The cold”. He doesn’t worry about trends: “I dress the same way for years”. He is fast, “but I am slow when necessary”. To slow down, he does “transcendental meditation twice a day”. @bobestvo

The next projects of this paulistano stylist are alternative editorials for small shows. For him, being a stylist is “creating desire” and it entails “responsibility, organization, relationships, a lot of research and a good eye”. About being in fashion, he says he looks for comfort and updates shapes, “but the outcome is usually the same”. To slow down, he tries to balance obligations and needs. “It helps to press the off button sometimes.” @thico

Fashion analyst and behavior researcher. For her, writing about fashion is “taking a step back to see forward”. She has two projects in progress: “My new website and something involving videos”. She likes jiló and doesn’t like “people who mistake arrogance for glamour”. She thinks “ultrafast and acts slow-I’m-in-Bahia”. To decelerate: “I roll on the floor with my baby girl, listen to records, peal oranges”. @viviwhiteman

FFWMAG 39

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art

publisher

Paulo Borges

editor-in-chief and creative director

Augusto Mariotti

augusto@luminosidade.com.br executive director

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camilayahn@ffw.com.br editor

Marcos Guinoza editor assistand

Kátia Lessa

guest director

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casting director

Luiz Henrique Costa art director

Gabriel Finotti designer

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Luciana Sanches Translator

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Adriano Damas, Alex Batista, Ana Wainer, Anne Raybaud, Bob Wolfenson, Bruna Sampaio, Cecília Macedo, Cristiano Madureira, Davi Ramos, David Diniz, Diego Américo, DJ Zé Pedro, Eudes de Santana, Fe Pinheiro, Flavia Pommianosky, Gabriela Splendore, Gustavo Ipolito, Henrique Gendre, Heretic, Hick Duarte, João Lourenço, Jorge Morabito, Lane Marinho, Ludovic Carème, Luele Furquim, Luis Cambuzano, Luise Federman, Marcela Duarte, Marcio Simnch, Mark Cardoso, Mel Freese, Raul Melo, Renata Corrêa, Renato Pinhel, Ricardo dos Anjos, Robert Estevão, Sam Tavares, Sandro de Mauro, Silvio Giorgio, Thiago Auge, Thiago Ferraz, Victor Miranda, Vivi Bacco, Vivian Whiteman, Well Santos Acknowledgements

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Aline Weber usa Animale. Foto de Henrique Gendre, styling de Renata Corrêa e beleza de Robert Estevão FFWMAG (ISSN 1809-8304) is published

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CARTA

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SPEED #a m o m o da a m o b r a s i l

T

he digital era brought changes to the fashion cycle, and the attentive reader must have noticed this vertiginous change of pace. Before, if we obeyed a calendar fixed exclusively by the seasons of the year – Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter –, we now follow trends that seem to appear by the minute. Everything has become fast.

In the article “Why are you rushing for?”, journalist Vivian Whiteman analyses this moment of hyper acceleration in fashion, and then she also evaluates the reaction to all that rushing. Yes, there are those who defend the agility and speed, such as Karl Lagerfeld, but the number of designers who ask for more time to create is increasing. In “Should we hit the breaks?”, Vivian writes about the slow fashion, movement supported by another fashion icon, designer Azzedine Alaïa.

Contrary to Lagerfeld, Alaïa believes that, in this frenetic rhythm, collections “trail towards emptiness”.

In this dispute between fast and slow in fashion industry, there are no bad or good guys, right or wrong. It is a much more complex issue that involves the functioning of our current society, moved by haste and immediacy. The consequences of this “300 miles per hour life” are still unpredictable and, in the meantime, it is up to each one of us choosing the model that better suits us, which is already a good thing. At least we are free to choose.

In this number of FFWMAG, fashion editorials take up a large amount of pages. And that is the idea: amplify and diversify the language of photography and image construction, opening space for more professionals of the field to show their work: photographers, stylists, models, and beauty artists.

“She is my girl | I am her boy” introduces national (Winter 2015) and international (Summer 2015) collections, gathering a sharp team. Photos are by Henrique Gendre and styling by Renata Corrêa. The editorial stars model Aline Weber (cover) and has interventions by designer-artisan Lane Marinho.

In this number, we bring two menswear editorials. The first, “A single man”, was shot by Adriano Damas, with styling

by David Diniz. The second, “Boyhood”, feature kids who made a name for themselves on Instagram – platform that changed the way fashion and the new generation expresses themselves –posing as models. Who photographed them was Cristiano Madureira, while Michael Vendola signed the styling.

“Women on top”, photographed by Bob Wolfenson, introduces Davi Ramos’ first hats, casquettes and turbans collection. Costanza Pascolato, Céu, Camila Faus, Flavia Pommianosky (Davi’s longtime partner) and other female characters that matter pose as models.

The pieces with the most geometrical drawings from the last collections appear in the editorial “Graphic games”, under the command of FFWMAG’s two new bets: photographer Gustavo Ipolito and stylist Gabriela Splendore.

At last, we bring with exclusivity the result of João Pimenta’s project with residents from Paraisópolis, São Paulo, who wear the designer’s Winter 2014 collection.

In the section Conversation, we interview creative director Giovanni Bianco. During three hours of conversation in his apartment at Jardins, he also talked about speed: “I no longer have time to think. Before we had four weeks to deliver a job, now timing is inhuman”. In the same section, journalist Erika Palomino declares the death of fashion critics and speaks about her obsession with newness.

Newness, by the way, is FFWMAG’s permanent mission. And, among the new names in music, we spoke to Shamir Bailey, Boogarins, and Rico Dalasam, who arrived for the photo shoot in a motor-taxi, put his hair extensions himself, and showed why he is one of the most controversial characters in São Paulo’s outskirts. Rico is a rapper and gay.

We also registered the conversation between Alice Caymmi and DJ Zé Pedro during lunch at restaurant Myk. The duo spoke about Rainha dos Raios, Alice’s highly praised second album, which brought me a new challenge: direct a concert.

We also speak about Joan Didion. At 80, highly respected in the literary world, the writer was the reason for chatter in social networks when starring Céline’s campaign, in which she was photographed by Juergen Teller.

Eduardo Pombal, Esmir Filho, Gregorio Duvivier, Janaina Tschäpe, Lovefoxxx, Marina Morena, and Miranda July are also in this number, besides an essay by Camila Yahn about Nicolas Ghesquière’s challenges at the head of Louis Vuitton.

Fast or slow, FFWMAG keeps following its mission to value Brazilian fashion, without ever losing sight of other topics and fashions.

Paulo Borges Publisher FFWMAG 39

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arte art

fast x slow

FFWMAG 39

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fashion

fast x slow

Fashion reached the speed of the consumption desire of the digital era, of the new devouring trends of Instagram, of the online sale almost simultaneous to the runway. FFWMAG debates this new production rhythm

WHY ARE YOU RUSHING FOR?

By Vivian Whiteman :: Illustratio Heretic

I

nspired by a social epidemic of hast and immediacy, the hyper

This is not a designer’s job. Why don’t the guys who takes care

acceleration at the hyper modern times of fashion arrived

of the business part design those things?”, said Elbaz to British

at the closets and even had an impact at the logistic of the

fashion critic Colin McDowell.

great luxury houses. Way beyond the bargains offered by store

Despite criticism from several of his colleagues, Lagerfeld

chains around the world, the expression fast fashion describes

seems to be connected with the effects the digital revolution

an operation, the own action structure that the fashion industry

had on the industry. “With the digital era, the fashion cycle

has adopted in the last decade.

changed, that is, the process of adoption and rejection of

“We live in a world where we have to be fast and swift. My

trends, patterns and clothes’ production. Digital changed

deal with Chanel predicts four collections a year, but I do eight.

especially retail, media, and consumers, who started to want

I don’t want more money. It was my idea to have six prêt-à-

things for yesterday. They have access to what is on the runway

porter collections a year, because every two months everything

on the spot, so they want it now”, explains Carol Althaller,

can be changed”, said Karld Lagerfeld, the great supporter of

former content director at WGSN for South America and cultural

fashion’s “fast and furious” pace, in an interview for The Business

analyst, who now works as a private consultant.

of Fashion. Besides Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter collections,

“Everything in your shopping bag now” was exactly what

he signs the Cruise, Pre-Fall, and a smaller pre-collection for

Burberry had in mind when it launched, in 2013, a real-time

each season at Chanel.

shopping system straight from the runway. In other words,

There are still the two haute-couture seasons, not to

consumers could not only watch and want a few months later,

mention smaller ventures, such as products created exclusively

but could see and buy immediately after the presentation. It is

for specific countries and markets and the annual runway show

a format that keeps the “fast” with the quality and elevated

Métiers d’Arts, focused on the label’s ultra-luxury handmade

prices of high luxury “fashion”.

pieces. In addition, Lagerfeld designs for his own label and for

Market analysts understand this speed appropriation as

the Italian Fendi.

a response, a counterattack against chains like Zara and H&M,

In the past, Alber Elbaz, Lanvin’s creative director, has

who hang on their racks models “similar” to the ones shown

defended pre-collections and the speed of fashion, but now has

by the great houses even before they hit the runways. “These

changed his mind. Among his disapprovals are the production

chains decode trends and outfits instantly and make them

of luxury goods in Eastern European countries and in China and

accessible to consumers, empowering and socially including

the constant demands to comply with last minute trends. “Pre-

them. It is a new way to make fashion. They are more than

collections are completely guided by trends. ‘What would you

clothing stores, they are diffusers”, adds Carol.

like? A pencil skirt. For how much? 400. Do you need a bag? Ok.’ FFWMAG 39

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fashion

fast x slow

don’t have the same purpose as fast fashions. Moderation

The empire strikes back

is required in order to give the consumer time to adapt, to understand the new shapes, tones, prints etc.”, he states.

The expression fast fashion is connected mostly, of course,

A case of success of the hybrid model between label and

with the megastores that established their empires of cheap

fast fashion is carioca Farm, one of the sales champions

clothes based on trends shown at the great fashion weeks.

at mall Iguatemi SP, which hosts many luxury brands. The

The word empire is not misplaced. According to Forbes, the

biggest secret of this national hit lies in planning and in

Swedish H&M is the 31st most valuable brand in the world,

product presentation: exclusive prints, creative department

way ahead of great luxury houses like Prada and Gucci.

“made in Rio”, website and visual communication done to

The giant born in Sweden has about 3,400 stores around the globe. Zara surpasses the barrier of 1,800 and Forever

perfection, limited editions, hyperactive social networks, and great branding ideas.

21 has more than 600 stores (and intends to go double by

Recently, Farm hit the nail on the head when it partnered

2017). Each of them has a yearly profit of billions and has

up with Adidas, which resulted in sold out pieces – elevated

the funds to hire great names to sign special collections:

to the status of collector’s item – within a few weeks.

from Karl Lagerfeld to Viktor & Rolf and Alexander Wang,

A new batch of the twosome, with products that cost up to

they’ve all had their names printed on an H&M tag.

R$ 350, is already on sale on the website.

In Brazil, in the last few months, two important labels

Amidst so much innovation, brands are also being

partnered up with retailers: Stella McCartney for C&A and

pushed to rethink their ethical standards. Consumers

the much talked about Versace collection for Riachuelo,

are starting to question clothes that are too cheap or of

presented during São Paulo Fashion Week. The arrival of

dubious origin. There are websites and apps that list brands

Forever 21 over here was also cause for frenzy: in the first

suspected of using compulsory labor that ask for a boycott

weeks, numbers were given out and lines had a three to

against great fashion corporations notably polluters. “It is

four hour wait.

possible to make fast fashion with principles: understand

Behind those monumental figures is an ever more

that our producers are connected to a greater system and

impressive battalion of novelty-hungry consumers. And they

think collectively, be transparent with consumers. Monitor

are not let down: thousands of articles land daily in stores.

and participate of initiatives of fair treatment of workers

Among the possibilities of high luxury and the colossal

and honest conduct codes”, analyses Carol.

structure of fast fashion chains, the sector known as accessible luxury, where most Brazilian labels fit in, must

Why are you rushing for?

also adapt.

At Iódice, run by Valdemar Iodice, the key is in product development. “We always make four main collections

But, after all, why so much appetite for products, why this haste

a year, but we need freshness. At the end of January, for

to have new clothes and accessories week in week out, forever

example, we present at our showroom a ‘pre-summer’.

repeating the act of purchase?

Brazil is a continental country with few days of winter, so

The industry has its answers, which echoes and find its roots

we lay our chips on a fresh collection that arrives in stores in

in human behavioral analyses. “German philosopher, essayist

May and June and gives retailers extra breathing room until

and critic Walter Benjamin writes in The Arcades Project that

August, when they start receiving the summer collection”,

fashion possesses an extraordinary character to anticipate

says the designer and businessman.

future desires, be them related to consumption, economic,

The brand has been around since the 1980s, but it wasn’t

social, and cultural convulsions, precisely due to its logic of

until five years ago that it embraced a defined identity,

repetition”, states Bruno Almeida Maia, writer and philosophy

based on a sexy style with tropical touches. Moreover,

researcher at Unifesp.

to dribble the competition, Iódice increased the pace in

Maia adds that the logic of fast fashion – with collections

some fronts: expanded stores, joined one of the largest

simultaneously available in the whole world and crowds lining

local e-commerce, invested in social networks and special

up after fashion’s latest trends – creates a feeling of delay and

mini-collections, like the ones made for New Year’s Eve and

stagnation. That is, in the moment someone buys the latest

Valentine’s Day. “We have to follow the market rhythm,

trend, it is already outdated. Besides, the outcome is an army

focus on opportunities. But we have to do that while paying

of people searching for a “different” product, just to end up

attention to product and strategy. Above all, we must

looking like everyone else.

“It feels to me that the contemporary impasse of fashion

maintain quality and identity”, says Valdemar.

The designer defends agility and doesn’t complain

is this: break the clock and go back to the time of the craft,

about the need to extend the mix of products, but believes

the special and the difference, or leave it to devour the ‘eternal

there is a limit: “We launch new things every week, but we

repetition’”, says Maia.

FFWMAG 39

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fashion

fast x slow

Going against fashion’s hyper acceleration trend, slow fashion gains ground and preaches a philosophy that involves aesthetic refinement, sustainability, and precious elements

Should we hit the breaks?

I

n a world full of demands and requirements, time has become

patterns, now reproduced in new colors. The entire community

one of the most desired luxury assets out there. Everything

involved are adapt to slow food and ecofriendly practices.

that takes time to make gained status, giving origin to a series

“The products created by a slow chain are of superior quality,

of efforts based on process deceleration. Gastronomy was the

made on a small scale, and many times artisanally. All visual

pioneer, with the idea of slow food, followed by fashion, with the

communication and marketing are a source of information and

concept of slow fashion.

transparency between process, product, consumer, and post-

Far from being a hippie movement, even though it harbor’s

consumption. The result is a greater connection between the

many brands with that spirit (besides initiatives along the lines

costumer and the brand”, asserts Chiara Gadaleta, founder of the

of Free Your Stuff, clothes exchange markets in which you bring

movement Ecoera.

what you don’t use and take what you want, no money involved),

Ecoera was created, in 2008, to discuss fashion’s productive

slow fashion is based on contemporary dilemmas and represents a

chain, and in 2012 it became an event, which has already taken

market niche with great potential for growth.

place in five occasions in Rio and São Paulo. Leaving aside brands

Originally, the movement has a direct connection with three

that use sustainability as a marketing tool, Chiara prioritized

basic rules: sustainability, quality, and transparency. That means

entrepreneurs actually focused on sustainable products in every

products have to comply with serious environmental standards

sense. She also organized a huge bazaar and created a project to

and be made with noble elements by workers in decent conditions,

recycle waste, called Ecoera Recicla. On the initiative’s website

according to international agreements on labor rights.

(www.ecoerarecicla.com.br), companies can donate “leftovers” that

In this context, organic cotton produced locally (respecting

can become raw materials for other companies. The idea is part of

seasons and not chemically treated) is more high-end than silk

the concept of zero waste, which is also seen with good eyes by the

imported from China, and fast trends are discarded in place of

market – a kind of luxury asset to a new type of consumer, who has

ethical durability. The difference is not only ideological, but it has

money, but is no longer satisfied only by the glamour of labels and

proven to be quite profitable.

wants a “responsible” product.

Some internationally renowned business fairs, like Zeek, in

With that in mind, Ecoera will also start to work as a consultant

Berlin, have opened space for labels connected to slow fashion. The

for established brands that want to go down the path of slow fashion

variety and creativity of the business model are impressive. Swedish

as a sustainable base. “Major brands are already opening their eyes

A.O.CMS, for example, offers a set with clothing articles for every

to the need of rethinking the production chain. Brands already

occasion to be worn all year long, without needing to buy anything

born with that concern are increasingly structuring themselves and

else. The Italian GRP, on its turn, bets on a mixture of origin and

developing in that direction. I believe we are going to witness the

lifestyle: the handmade sweaters are produced in a factory in the

birth of fashion labels in which social and environmental issues are

mountains of Tuscany, where there is an archive of ancient jacquard

part of the business plan”, examines Chiara.

FFWMAG 39

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fashion

fast x slow

Slow ultra-deluxe

relations to the brink of slavery. Last year, when Forever 21 launched F21Red with even lower prices (t-shirts for US$ 4 and

Slow fashion is, like fast fashion, a way of making fashion, that

jeans for US$ 7), there were protest led by many entities and the

is, it corresponds to a certain structure. Some brands adopt the

line’s expansion plans were suspended.

expression without concentrating on the ethical and ecological matters, giving priority to the creative process, for instance.

But how to accomplish the task of dressing for several daily activities and still wear looks made through a slower and higher

Away from fashion weeks, designer Paula Raia’s label is an

quality process?

example of this trend. There is a concern about waste and origin

Nowadays, thinking about haute-couture or even about made-

of materials, but it comes as a result of the way she creates. “The

to-fit clothes is impossible. And that is where classic revivals come

difference is in the refinement. There is more time to dwell on

in, the cult of the durable and the new concept of luxury materials.

research, get closer to the manual processes, better elaborate

This is the new face of “special”.

the product, structure a healthy internal model, functional and organized”, declares Paula.

Brazilian brands like Basico.com, an e-commerce, follows that trend. The store offers few products, solids, on neutral colors, that

Ever since she created her label, after the extinction of Raia

can be matched among them. Almost everything is made of cotton,

de Goeye, Paula backed away from the rhythm of fashion weeks.

but not just any kind: the Pima, noble and collected manually,

Last year, she had one runway show, at her home in Jardim

which doesn’t damage the fibers.

Europa, São Paulo. The pieces were of materials like raffia and

According to Dedé Bevilaqua, founder of the label, “fabrics

straw, artisanally made. “To me, slow fashion is about rescuing

made from threads of Pima have, in average, 45% more resistance

some values and fundamental processes, ways of doing and,

to stains, durability, and color depth”. On their turn, articles made

especially, giving creative impulse and liberty to the creative

of linen have filaments imported from Belgium and Ireland and

exercise”, she adds.

are woven integrally in Brazil, by the only Brazilian factory that

The iconic designer Azzedine Alaïa, one of fast fashion’s

still does that job.

strongest critics and adept of launches farther-between, made

Other examples of that basic format, relatively cheap and

another controversial statement. When encouraging fashion

special are the articles made by New Yorker Carrie Parry and

to “embrace slow fashion”, he said that at fashion weeks there

American labels Zady and Pendleton – the latter a business family

is no more room for real creation and that the rhythm of the

that started six generations ago as a small factory of handmade

collections trails “towards emptiness and it is inhumane”.

blankets.

The idea of slow fashion is not exactly new. The passion for

But perhaps the most radical example of the bipolar times we

rare materials, ancestral laces or fabrics made from 18 century

live in is Japanese chain Uniqlo. To begin with, it is a fast fashion

techniques, as some outfits from Prada’s last collection, comes

chain that doesn’t follow trends, plans its collections a year in

from haute-couture. It also comes from a circuit called métier

advance, and offers basic articles, classic and functional cuts.

d’art, that is, runway shows, museums, and other initiatives intended to register and promote specific artisanal knowledge.

In 2013, it got even more complicated: the company rounded up the journalists in Paris to announce its new concept, named

What changed in the last decades was exactly the connection

Lifewear. Part of the statement is: “Clothes for a better life, for

between those ideas, previously restricted to small circles, to

everyone, every day”. With Nicola Formichetti (Diesel’s creative

initiatives that can comply with population’s daily needs. The

director) ahead of creation and direction by ex-Issey Miyake, Naoko

basic question is: how to bring something special, made with

Takizawa, the concept predict a series of lines, the firsts already

care, time and perfection to the masses?

launched in 2014, with durable articles, made to be matched and overlapped. All aligned with several social-environmental

Bipolar rhythm

certificates. On one hand, it almost seems slow, on another, the business is enormous and fast: the company will manufacture up

The answer is not simple and brushes other values than make sense

to 100 million pieces of a single product, sold in several parts of

in our time. Moreover, it is clear that the perception of time is the

the globe.

key to unlock this labyrinth. But how exactly?

Hard to keep up? It is enough to say that between fast and

In the essay The Reinvention of Time, sociologist and founder

slow there is another pace – technology’s. “Uniqlo has always been

of the trends bureau Observatório de Sinais, Dario Caldas, creates

more focused on innovation in the technological sense than in the

the expression consumer “chrono-sensitive”, that is, sensitive to

fashion trend. The idea of Lifewear is the same behind iPhone 4,

time. According to him, “contemporary temporal experiences are

iPhone 5. It’s about continuity, with small updates: new elements,

mixing speeds and rhythms, acceleration and deceleration” and

new fabrics”, explained Takizawa when the new concept was

that, in response to the era of multitasking, “slowness begins to be

launched.

more desirable and valued”.

Socially, the speed of the industry loses status and desirability points when it generates tons of toxic waste and demeans working FFWMAG 39

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Je suis Ghesquière louis vuitton

What the French designer is doing to establish his creative vision at Louis Vuitton

By Camila Yahn :: Photo Juergen Teller Photo: Karim Sadli

O

ne of the most applauded names in fashion, the French

which reveals to the public the new designer’s creative process.

Nicolas Ghesquière became head of creation at Louis

There, it is possible to unveil details of the creation of a collec-

Vuitton in 2014, surprising everyone from fans and

tion and the production of a great runway show. The new purse

journalists to fellow designers and great CEOs of the industry. His

Malletage, Ghesquière’s bet as a hit accessory, as well as the 48

mission? Develop the label’s prêt-à-porter and make it more relevant,

Summer 2015 looks, are shown in thorough pictures, an invitation

not only among insiders, but also among costumers, who hardly saw

to plunge into the new era that commences. Nicolas creates at his

themselves in the outfits created by Marc Jacobs. Admit it, what

own manner while Vuitton, with a millionaire marketing depart-

Jacobs made worked better for marketing purposes than for sales.

ment, translates the process and announces the good news: we

With Ghesquière, a new light shone over Louis Vuitton. While

changed and you’re gonna like it.

Jacobs’ charismatic figure aimed straight at LV’s target, Nicolas

In the apparels, the transformation is easily noticed. He sear-

has more the profile of an artist, introspective and reserved, and

ched in the label’s most legitimate heritage the basis for his first

brings, tied to his name, the expressions avant-garde and con-

work, that is, leather. The garments accentuate Vuitton’s experti-

ceptual. And that is exactly where the company needs to work, to

se with the material, used in the same texture usually applied on

prevent those two words – which easily distance the great public

handbags. And, believe it, for the first time, Vuitton’s leather ar-

– from being scary without losing their worth.

tisans made runway dresses. The silhouette, Ghersquière’s forte,

Ghesquière has carte blanche to convey his vision to the au-

is very well thought and adds a new and strong style. Despite looking

dience, from the proposal of a new silhouette, to marketing cam-

rigid, the pieces have an elaborate math: “The clothes have a beau-

paigns, to a logo revamp. Label and designer have spared no efforts

tiful shape, architecture and construction, materials of first quality

to make this new moment reach consumers with ease and without

and yet don’t weigh 10 kilos”, said the designer to The Wall Street

the impact that accompanies change.

Journal. “What I did was impose a silhouette. They are no longer

Actions in that regard include an exhibition in Los Angeles, FFWMAG 39

just bags or clothes: it is a silhouette.”

24

fashion

louis vuitton

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louis vuitton

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louis vuitton

Outfits from Louis Vuitton’s Summer 2015 collection

In the designer’s first runway show, there were over 4 thou-

Stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé, one of the first people the designer

sand tweets in just three hours, confirming the media frenzy that

met in fashion, was recruited to work with him at Vuitton and sign

exploded with Ghesquière’s return in great style. If in Balenciaga

the styling for shows and campaigns. Juergen Teller, Annie Leibo-

he was obsessed with research to predict the future, he now wan-

vitz, and Bruce Weber photographed the Summer 2015 collection,

ts – and needs – clothes to be functional and recognizable. “I am

creating ads with different features. If Annie is Vuitton’s longti-

more mature and I know I can innovate, being conscious that the

me collaborator, it was with Teller that the designer established

true search is to immortalize great classics.”

a closer relationship. The German photographer is known for cru-

The change was well received by the industry. Recently,

de, provocative and overexposed pictures, moving from conceptual

LVMH released its 2014’s sales report and highlighted Louis

to commercial with an original glance, exactly the same path Nico-

Vuitton’s good results, “characterized by a strong creative im-

la is taking at the moment.

pulse, dominated by the enthusiastic reception of Nicolas Ghes-

For the man that, according to Tom Ford, raised Balenciaga all

quière’s first shows”. We are speaking of one of the most lucra-

on his own, overcoming challenges seems possible: create an inno-

tive luxury labels in the world, with an estimated US$ 9,7 billion

vative image, which at the same time respects Louis Vuitton’s history

in annual sales, according to Forbes.

and turns the equation desire into sales. “People used to define me

For Michael Burke, current CEO, Marc Jacobs didn’t pos-

as a futuristic designer. But for me the future is now”, says Nicolas.

sess the necessary focus. “What Nicolas is making is creating is

—

a firmer vision of who is the Vuitton woman”, said Burke to the

Watch Louis Vuitton’s Summer 2015 show on FFW.COM.BR/DESFILES

WSJ. “Marc was more mindful of the moment instead of trying to define a timeless woman. Few days before the show, he could change his mind completely, because it wasn’t what he liked that week. Nicolas doesn’t do that.”

The campaigns also felt Nicolas Ghesquière’s touch. He assembled a strong creative team that shares his minimalistic esthetic.

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joan didion

Photo: Cortesy of CĂŠline

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literature

Céline’s new muse is 80 years-old and just happens to be one of the most influential women of the 20th century

Joan Didion

By João Lourenço :: Photo Juergen Teller

J

ohn Galliano debuted ahead of Marison Margiela.

said that this attention to detail was acquired during her time

Rick Owens paraded half-naked models on the

as an intern at Vogue, in the end of the 1950s. She landed the

runway. Tom Ford, after several rumors, did not

internship after winning a writing contest in college.

return to Gucci’s creative direction. Early this year, several

Ever since, Joan covered some important events in the

events shook up the world of fashion, but perhaps none

United States, such as Ronald Reagan’s election and Charles

other caused as much noise as the new spring campaign of

Manson’s crimes. Alongside John Gregory Dunne, her husband

French house Céline. The photo, by Juergen Teller, shows

and work partner for over 40 years, she signed screenplays,

a fragile 80 year-old lady behind sunglasses, Anna Wintour

such as the classic A Star is Born (1976), starred by Barbara

style. We’re talking about the writer, essayist, screenwriter,

Streisand. From John’s sudden death, on a New Year’s Eve,

and journalist Joan Didion, “one of the most important

came the book The Year of Magical Thinking (2006), in which

and influential women of the 20th century”, according to

Joan narrates the year following her husband’s passing.

American president Barack Obama.

Considered the essential masterpiece of mourning,

Contrary to the amazons that have embodied designer

the book opened the doors to a younger audience and

Phoebe Philo’s creations, the model is of short stature,

reconquered past fans, like Patti Smith. “This book helped

gray hair, and has no followers on Instagram. Instead of

me tell my own story of grief and how I got through it. Didion

magazine covers, she collects dozens of books and the

recounts beautifully one of life’s greatest sores”, said the

main literature prizes on the planet – including the most

singer during the press conference of Just Kids (2010), book

important of them all, the Pulitzer.

that tells the story of love and friendship between her and

After breaking the internet with the ad, Joan showed

photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Besides Patti, others like

surprise on account of the commotion she caused.

Sofia Coppola, Lykke Li, and Matt Berninger, vocalist of The

“I always liked the brand, I own a few articles, but I still

National, have declared the writer’s influence in their work.

don’t understand how all of this happened. They got in

Later this year, audiences will be able to check out

touch with me and I said yes. It was that simple”, she said

the importance of Joan’s work in movies. Titled We Tell

to The New York Times. Many critics twisted their noses

Ourselves Stories in Order to Live, the documentary was

to the campaign, claiming the brand was taking advantage

funded by a campaign launched on the crowdfunding site

of the writer’s image to sell accessories. But no one better

Kickstarter, which raised US$ 221 thousand in less than a

than the author to represent Philo’s ideas: Joan’s loose and

month. “This is a project I’ve been working on for over three

challenging prose is comparable to Céline’s easy to wear

years. I presented the idea to several studios, but despite

intelligent minimalism. And fashion elements have always

their admiration for Didion, they believed it wouldn’t reach

been present in Joan’s writing. Perhaps the best known

enough people to justify the investment. So I decided to

example is Play It As It Lays, her second novel, in which

pursue it myself. And now I can prove they were wrong. We

the main character buys a silver vinyl dress after inducing

raised nearly triple what we had planned”, said actor and

an abortion, believing that would be good for her.

producer Griffin Dunne, Joan’s nephew, to Variety.

Joan creates characters that, just as in real life, need

To Joan, writing is not an art or a job, but a matter of

to breath, feed, go to the bathroom and, of course, change

survival. More than an author who sells books and moves

clothes. These details generally accompany contradictions or,

generations, she observes the times in which we live in and

more precisely, shed a light on changes and everything that

points where we are going. Joan Didion is a kind of Diana

stayed behind. When she speaks of attires, she is speaking

Vreeland of literature: she offers us what we need even

about memory. It is a tool that marks the passage of time. It is

before we are aware of it.

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literature

Janaina Tsch채pe in front of the work she presented at the exhibition Made By... Feito Por Brasileiros

Fantastic | Mythological | Fictitious

Cortesy of Fortes Vilaça

Janaina Tschäpe

Video installation Fern Weh, 2014

By Marcos Guinoza :: Photo Alex Batista

J

anaina Tschäpe decided her future when she was just a child.

such as pastel, aquarelle etc. “The first naked man I ever saw was

At 7, she announced to her parents she would be an artist.

in a drawing class”, she says, laughing.

“Being an artist was my childhood dream. It has always been.

Certain of her calling, “obsessed with the idea of being a visual

I would draw the whole time.” She says she still keeps some notepads

artist”, she joined the School of Beaux-Arts in Hamburg, Germany,

with her sketches from childhood. “I liked to draw portraits.”

to study visual arts and, later, did a master’s at the School of Visual

Years later, her father suggested other professions to her. He

Arts, in New York. She left in search of her childhood dream and

preferred she studied architecture, design… “Anything but visual

accomplished it with merit. Today, Janaina Tschäpe is a prestigious

art.” Despite her father’s concerns, Janaina didn’t change her

artist in the contemporary art circuit, with exhibitions in important

mind and, as a teen, she took a series of classes to learn techniques

museums and galleries all over the world.

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JANAINA TSCHÄPE

“I grew up in a generation that already thought we were all equals, until I realized it wasn’t true.

I try not to make feminist art, but be a female artist” Up until the beginning of her studies in Hamburg, Janaina

From her trip to the Amazon, where Janaina spent eight days sailing

lived between Germany and Brazil. Her father is German and her

through the Negro River, came the video The Ghost in Between, work

mother Brazilian. “My parents met in Brazil. Before I was born,

that brings a romantic view about a world of scientific-exploratory

my dad had to go back to Germany for work and they moved

travels in the 18th and 19th centuries. The title is a reference to the

to Munich, where I was born. A year later, they had to move back

Amazon’s natives habit of looking for ghosts in photographs.

to Brazil.” At 11, Janaina went back to Germany; at 16, returned to Brazil and, two years later, moved to Hamburg.

In her most recent works, the artist has included men in the performances. “My ‘creatures’ are a bit androgynous; they don’t have

Her “double identity” is referred many times when her work

an exact identity. Inside the clothes we can’t recognize if it’s a woman

is being discussed, and she agrees that the blend of German

or a man. In the last two years, things have been moving towards the

rationalism with Brazilian passion influenced her way of doing art.

abstract.” Previously, Janaina only worked with the female body.

“I believe the connection between these two worlds was important

Feminist issues, by the way, are fundamental in the artist’s

throughout my career, and it still is. My artistic development

work. “The figure of the woman in mythology always interested

began in Germany and, afterwards, I matched what I had study

me. In fact, I try to demystify them, to see those historic characters

theoretically to what I experienced in Brazil.”

for what they are. In several videos and performances I try to

Janaina started her career as a painter, but she soon abandoned

interpret the mermaid, the witch.” For Janaina, women are still

the brush to express herself through photography and video.

stuck inside those roles. “I grew up in a generation that already

“I wanted to leave the white cube, the studio, and explore art making

thought we were all equals, until I realized it wasn’t true. I try not

almost as a daily exercise that I did with my body, where I was,

to make feminist art, but be a female artist.”

without necessarily having tools or having to be in the studio. I was A farmer’s soul

focused on understanding what I did as a visual artist. I think it is a personal search, of understanding yourself in your midst.” Janaina understood herself and, now, she works with video, photography,

Janaina was married to visual artist Vik Muniz, with whom she

painting, drawing, and performance. These languages speak to

has a daughter. She has been living in New York for more than

each other. “When I’m editing photos, videos, it also feeds me

20 year. “It is the city that accepts everyone. Artistically, I needed

a visual memory and image that is reflected within the painting.

to free myself of this conflict of who I am in terms of nationality

They are all connected. For example, I introduced more color in

– if I am German, if I am Brazilian. In New York, I don’t need to

photography when I was painting more. And I did a performance

question where I come from.”

with colorful balloons. I think a lot of it came from painting.”

At least once a year she comes to Brazil, where she spends

The choice of language happens naturally. “I think drawing

a period at Bocaina de Minas (in the state of Minas Gerais), her

is always the start of a thought. Very often I draw something

mother’s family hometown. From her trips to Bocaina arouse

and ideas come up from the sketches.” Janaina’s photographic

a connection to nature, another recurrent theme in her narrative.

and video works are based on expeditions she goes to places like the

“When I was a child, we went there every weekend. To me, nature

Amazon, Galapagos, and Fiji. “My work has a strong connection to

was related to freedom. It was a place I could explore on my own.

literature, the idea of creating a story, fiction.”

The independence and solitude that made me grow inside.”

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art

Cortesy of Fortes Vilaça

JANAINA TSCHÄPE

Four Seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn), 2014

Cortesy of Fortes Vilaรงa

Details of the installation Fern Weh, part of the exhibition Made By... Feito Por Brasileiros, at Cidade Matarazzo, in S達o Paulo

Cortesia Galerie Xippas

Above and on the right, The Ghost in Between, 2013

In New York, Janaina sticks to her routine. She wakes up at

Janaina Tschäpe dreams and from her dreams come out

7, leaves at 8h15, drops her daughter off at school, arrives at her

fantastic beings (often disturbing), fictional cellules and plants,

studio at 9h30 and leaves at 5h30 pm to be at home by 6 pm.

polymorphous landscapes, melancholic atmospheres, paintings of

“Today I have a studio and a home, because I don’t like the idea

wide and firm strokes – a universe in which real and imaginary

to have to stop working at a given moment.” Janaina does not

coexist. As she says, her intention is not to picture the dream

suffer from creative blocks. “It is the opposite. When everything

world, “but what it feels like to be in one”.

else shuts down, art is the only thing that sets me free. Art is where

—

I can express what I can’t in life. I still express myself better

janainatschape.net

drawing, painting, than speaking.”

Janaina has an adventurous spirit and when she is not creating, she likes to cook, travel, and garden. “My house looks like a forest.

I have a farmer’s soul.” She says she’s not afraid of changes.

“At the moment you chose to be a visual artist, to go against the idea of a safe job, fear is left aside. Fear is something I try not to think about.”

Among Janaina’s next projects are exhibitions in Berlin and Rio de Janeiro, a book and an expedition to the Salomon Islands, in the South Pacific. “I think I will be in a small boat, with the cannibals.

That kind of project makes me dream.”

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art

JANAINA TSCHÄPE

lovefoxxx

Luísa Matsushita, painter Or Lovefoxxx, CSS’ frontwoman

Untitled Laranja Verde Hires

A

By Kátia Lessa fter touring the world for 12 years ahead of group CSS,

is in Brazil, she works from her parents’ terrace, a wide

Luísa Matsushita, aka Lovefoxxx, decided to rekindle

and open space overlooking the sunset in Campinas.

an old flame – painting. The band is not done, but, at the

Luísa’s abstract paintings still aren’t part of the por-

moment, as she says on Instagram, Luísa is “thinking about painting”.

tfolio of a gallery. The artist thinks it is too early to choo-

The chameleon Luísa from the stages reappears in her

se someone to represent her, but, in the past, she has had

cruder and perhaps most genuine form. Her connection

a solo exhibition at Percy on Broadway gallery, in Califor-

with dyes comes from childhood: “It is my most natural

nia. The commissioned pieces brought a series of jaguars’

element. Since I can remember, drawing and painting have

drawings. Who defines where her pieces go is her best

been a part of my life. As a child, I liked to stay in my room,

friend, art dealer Duda Porto de Souza, who follows Luísa’s

by myself, drawing (which was difficult, because I have

every step and includes her work in interesting national

a Libra brother who loves to socialize). In spite of the world

and international collections.

that ties me to music, I always considered myself a visual artist before anything else”, she says.

She doesn’t know how to explain her artistic process, since her work is abstract. “It is the most intimate aspect

While she has no real plans of recording a new album,

in my life. I can’t know exactly the origin of every image,

the “frontwoman”, who has been on the cover of magazines

but often when I am just waking up or almost asleep, I see

like Dazed and third on the list of coolest people in the

finished compositions, so I get out of bed to write what

planet by magazine NME, she is in a quiet phase. Curren-

I saw. Other times, I start to paint and it comes to me.

tly, she lives in Hudson, New York, and paints from home,

My only ‘rule’ is to look at the canvas and feel good. If the

in the bedroom she now shares with someone quieter, the

feeling is light, if the composition makes sense, the pain-

boyfriend and also visual artist Brian Degraw. When she

ting is done”, she explains.

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lovefoxxx

Lovely Tan

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lovefoxxx

Photos from Luísa Matsushita’s Instagram in Taos, New Mexico, that show the construction process of an earthship

Brushes and sledgehammers

flushing. The water used for flushing and in the kitchen sink goes straight to the house exterior, where it is treated by plants and

Ever since she stopped, albeit temporarily, of living in hotel

the septic box; besides that, earthship is positioned with its win-

rooms and she can take a shower without flip-flops and not dry

dows facing north (in the southern hemisphere). It maintains a

the shampoo bottle to put it away in the suitcase, Luísa has been

temperature of 21°C to 25°C, even in the northern hemisphere,

giving a lot of thought about a home. “After spending each day in

when outside temperatures can reach -10°C or lower. “I learned

a different city, I feel a great joy in having a home, in making tea

to build everything, with my own hands. And the earthships are

that is not from a bag, because I have a teapot and a mug sitting

beautiful!”, says Luísa, who still lives in a traditional house, but

there every day. It is a gratitude that I would have never been able

already dreams with an earthship in Bahia or in Boiçucanga to

to grasp if I hadn’t been through years of touring”, she says.

hang her paintings.

The subject gained weight when she noticed that many things

If there is where she’ll come from to present exhibitions

became more efficient in our society, but the performance of design

or concerts in festivals, Luísa doesn’t know. “I believe in the

still hasn’t developed. “Houses and their structures are thought in

universe’s harmony, and I’ve always had a direct communication

the same way: a box with rooms and x number of floors and a roof.”

with it. I want to live in truth and spontaneity, and everything

Unsettled, she went to Taos, New Mexico, to learn how to

will be aligned. Music, painting, and houses are just that; I do my

build an earthship. The house is a space completely independent

part, which is honoring what I love, developing my work every

of electric source and the sewer is built partially with recycled

day, and what will be will be.”

materials such as tires, cans, glass, and plastic bottles.

In the earthship, energy is solar (sometimes aeolian) and the

—

house collects water from the rain, which is reused four times.

instagram @ luisa_matsushita

Edible plants inside the house filter the water, which is used for FFWMAG 39

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Miranda July in a scene of The Future (2011). Directed by Miranda, the movie tells the story of a couple who watches their relationship fall apart after adopting a cat

Hello, I am Miranda July She is one in many: filmmaker, screenwriter, writer, performer,visual artist, creator of smartphone apps

By Joรฃo Lourenรงo

miranda july

efore announcing myself at the reception, I sit at the hotel

B

The author has another published book, No One Belongs Here

bar and check one last time if the questions are in order.

More Than You (2007), a collection of short stories originally

Outside, Union Square is crowded as usual. It is another

published in magazines like The New Yorker and Paris Review.

the elevator. She comes to the door.

She directed, acted and produced her two feature films: Me and you

typical fall day in New York. I turn off my phone as soon as I am in

Besides being as author, Miranda July is many other things.

“Hello, I am Miranda July. Welcome!”

and everyone we know (2005) and The Future (2011). She is also a

Miranda seems shy. She offers me a glass of water and a cereal

visual artist and a performer. “It’s amazing that people still believe

bar. I say yes to water. “I apologize, I wish I had something else to

the idea that an artist has to stick to the same area forever. This

offer, maybe some alcohol would help”, she jokes. I point at the

is impossible, especially nowadays.” Miranda says that she never

black cover book next to the computers. “Yes, this is it, would you

plans which platform she will use in her next project. “First comes

like to take a look?”

the idea, then I think which outlet I will develop it in.”

While I rifle through the pages of The First Bad Man, Miranda’s first

Born in Vermont, she says it would have been harder to develop

novel, she tells me: “This book took a long time to be written because

the same voice she has today had she stayed there. “I am from

I still like to leave some things for later. Procrastination, you know? And

Vermont, but sometimes even I forget it. There, we used to live in

now I am a mother, and that changes the order of my priorities”.

a hill, next to a small town. We moved to California when I was 5

According to the author, The First Bad Man tells the story of

and, ever since, I think of Berkeley as my hometown. The city’s free

two women, one in her 40s and the other 20. “It took me a while

environment helped me create my voice. Now, I live in Los Angeles,

to realize that what I was doing was right. I spent a long time in

but in many situations I still see myself as a girl from Berkeley.”

California’s influence in her artistic formation is understandable.

totally isolated and profound. For eight months, I forced myself to

In the 1960s and 1970s, Berkeley and the entire Bay Area were stage

write only what I knew. After that something magical happened

to a number of protests and artistic manifestations. Telegraph

and allowed me to go back in the story and change parts, be more

Avenue, address where Miranda was raised, became a symbol of

experimental in some passages.”

American counterculture. “All my stories have characters that are

Photos: Cortesy of Miranda July

a state of complete disbelief. This book took me to another world,

Scene from the promotional video of the app Somebody, created by Miranda in partnership with Miu Miu

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miranda july

Sophie (Miranda July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater) in a scene of The Future

typical from Berkeley, people who at first seem strange, but deep

For Miranda, we are still trying to understand how to use these

down are only passionate about things other people don’t pay too

tools. “The best technology is the one that helps to cut the internet

much attention to.”

and all this nonstop communication. Today, the great issue is: how

It was in Berkeley where Miranda did her first performances.

can we use technology to calm our body and our mind?”

“I remember being booed in punk and lesbian bars. It was in those environments where I started to present myself, basically

Time is running and the interview is about to end. I ask Miranda the last question. Why write fiction?

with comedy skits.”

“Some types of pain, sadness, and even joy are bearable. Often,

One day, she decided to drop out of school and moved to

these feelings are inexplicable, impossible to articulate. So trying

Portland. “I’m not the kind of person who would learn anything

to describe them is an act to connect. My experience is that I always

through traditional teaching. Everything I do today, I learned from

write the opposite of what I am feeling and try to connect with

my friends, watching. Being next to them was the most encouraging

people who are feeling the same. That is what we need to survive!

experience I’ve ever had. They are my heroes.”

We need to feel we are part of something greater, of humankind.

Interested in the participation of the audience, Miranda always

And the feeling, when is left unsaid – be it in books or other forms

tries to include anonymous people in her performances. The most

of art – is isolated. That is it. We tell stories because we need this

notable example is learning to love you more, a website created

feeling of connection.”

in 2002 in partnership with artist Harrell Fletcher where they

–

suggested tasks for the visitors: “Take a picture of your parents

mirandajuly.com

kissing”, “build a sign of public utility”, “reread you favorite book from fifth grade” etc. Sever years later, the project was closed and it is now a part of the permanent collection of The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Miranda’s most recent project is to develop apps for smartphones. It all started last year, when she collaborated with Miu Miu to launch Somebody. “This app has a lot to do with what I’ve always done. It involves interacting with strangers and role playing.”

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Keiichi Tanaami Invited by Raf Simons, the artist interpreted the collection Esprit Dior Tokyo with the graphic pop psychedelic signs that made him one of Japan’s most relevant illustrators. FFWMAG shows, with exclusivity, the result of this partnership

By Carolina Vasone :: Photo Sophie Carrée

1

2

3

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of Playboy magazine. From his experience in advertising,

which he learned during his youth, when he created graphic novels.

he brought the instant understanding and fascination of the pop art

The surrealist psychedelic elements come from Dadaism, important

formula invented by Andy Warhol, whose work Tanaami became

movement from post-war Japan, which Tanaami joined.

ultimedia artist Keiichi Tanaami has worked in ad

father’s Goldfish, depicted disfigured in the aquarium. To these strong

agencies and was art director of the first Japanese edition

references he adds feminine figures influenced my manga, technique

acquainted during his first visit to the United States, in the late 1960s.

All these influences can be perceived in the artist’s most recent works,

From that point on, he molded his aesthetic, which employs icons

such as the collaboration with Christian Dior. At the request of the

from western and eastern cultures in a vibrant and provocative way,

label’s creative director, Raf Simons, Tanaami was invited to reinterpret

becoming evident in record covers from the psychedelic Jefferson

articles from the special collection Esprit Dior Tokyo, inspired in Japan

Airplane and the classic rock The Monkees, both signed by him. On the

and shown at the country’s capital last December. The result are images

other hand, war is the element responsible for much of the anguishing

like the ones you see in these pages, in which outfits of an almost

and instigating character of the artist’s work, which moves between

photographic trace are mixed to the artist’s colorful, disturbing, and

videoart, illustration, painting, and sculpture.

beautiful universe, shown around the world in exhibitions such as the

Born in Tokyo three years before the outburst of the Second World

last Miami Art Basel, and in galleries in Berlin, Genève, and New York.

War, Tanaami brings from childhood the dramatic and impactful

—

charge imprinted in his work, through recurring images of bombs, light

keiichitanaami.com

beams coming from explosions in the sky, mutilated figures, and his

Watch the show Esprit Dior Tokyo 2015 on FFW.COM.BR/DESFILES

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TÍTULO DA PAUTA

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Marina Morena: the Brazilian who became Riccardo Tisci’s confidant

Givenchy Girl

By Kátia Lessa :: Photo Adriano Damas

I

magine being friends with one of today’s greatest designers.

But, since no one is perfect, Marina says that sometimes

Receive exclusive gifts, have a granted first row seat in every

she borrows from his closet when she sleeps over. She

show, give you opinion about the design of a new collection,

recalls the day she wore a t-shirt with stitched feathers as

and jump the line to have your dream wedding dress signed.

a dress and, when she got undressed, she slipped it in her

Baiana Marina Moreno doesn’t only imagine, but she lives

bag intending never to give it back. “My idea was to tell him

it since she met Italian designer Riccardo Tisci during a New

when I had returned to Brazil. I was going to say it was my

Year’s Eve party in Rio de Janeiro five years ago. When they

gift from Santa Claus, but on that day he asked me to go

first met, she, by chance, was wearing Givenchy, label which

Christmas shopping with him because he wanted me to try

he happens to be the creative director. She walked up to him

the woman’s clothes.” When they got to the car, he took a

and, quickly, said she loved his work.

small box out of the bag, and said: “Merry Christmas!”. “The

Two years later, at Lollapalooza, the two crossed paths

emerald rings were for me. I wear them every day. Riccardo

and this time the conversation lasted two hours. “At the time

is thoughtful, simple, and generous. I left the t-shirt at the

we were having relationship trouble and we comforted each

door; I couldn’t take it”, she says.

other. We are both Leonine: excited, passionate, and loyal.

We related to each other”, tells Marina.

When she shows up at special occasions wearing outfits from his competitors, the “fat” or “fag”, as they have

Since then, Tisci’s presence in the country became more

nicknamed each other, feels jealous. “One day, I showed up at

frequent, and whenever she can, Marina makes quick trips to

a party with an article that wasn’t his and he spent the whole

Paris, where her BFF lives, besides having traveled with him to

evening calling me Mrs. Prada”, Marina says, smiling.

Maceió, Barcelona, New York, Ibiza, Los Angeles, and so on.

The opposite also happens. Marina admits that she went

Whenever he is here, Marina says his focus is beach and

crazy when she saw Lady Gaga on the first row of one of

food. Among his favorite dishes are acai, brigadeiro and

Givenchy’s shows wearing a pair of boots that had yet to be

acarajé, which he tried for the first time in Rio at Marina’s

launched, but that she wanted to be the first to buy. Marina

mother’s kiosk of baiana food.

swears she is not jealous of Lea T., another Brazilian that is

Even before sharing relationship sorrows with her best friend, Marina was Givenchy’s client. And, today, unlike of

always with the designer. “Lea is not a friend, Lea is a sister.

They have a different, familiar relationship”, she says.

what could be expected, instead of asking him for clothes,

Disagreements, of course, are also part of their connection.

Marina is Givenchy’s number 1 client in Latin America, with

They had an argument when he didn’t cast Marina’s boyfriend,

more than 200 articles in her closet.

model Raphael Cesana, for one of his shows. “At first I was

“Of course I receive gifts, but I don’t like to ask for things

mad, but then I understood he wasn’t really right for that show.

all the time. Our friendship is not because of clothes, and he is

Riccardo is very fair. The next day we were in Milan, happy again.”

a busy man. What I do is benefit from employee’s sales, with

The worst part of being his friend? “There is something that

discounts up to 80%. I’ve gone to Paris just with the clothes

upsets me. When he is with his Italian friends, I can’t understand

on my body and stood in line for hours just for that. I spent so

one single word. I’m going to start taking lessons because of him.

much that my credit card wouldn’t work and a salesman who

Besides, everyone asks to jump the line for custom made wedding

helped me at the Paris store had to lend me money”, she says,

dresses; it’s awful. I asked him to dress Anitta for the Grammy’s,

amused. She says that during those occasions she brings orders

but I don’t ask for wedding dresses, there are too many. But mine

from friends like Sabrina Sato, Preta Gil, and Bruno Gagliasso.

is guaranteed, he’s promised”, she says, proudly.

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Marina Morena wears Givenchy outfits from her personal collection. Beauty Krisna Carvalho (Capa Mgt)

and introduces a contemporary, sexy, and fresh look, in tune with the global style

Vitorino Campos’ debut ahead of Animale’s creative direction with the acclaimed

Coolness

Winter 2015 runway show at SPFW defines a new era for the label Photo Marcio Simnch Styling Thiago Ferraz

Beauty Raul Melo (Capa MGT) • fashion producer Luise Federman • photography assistant Vítor Jardim and Rodrigo Zulatto • beauty assistant Silmara Melo • Model Larissa Marchiori (Ford) retouching rg imagem

Christian Dior purse diorama

Best Friend Forever photo Ludovic Carème :: Styling Ana Wainer

chanel purse Coco Boy

osklen purse New Pirarucu

giorgio armani brown leather bag with buckles

ellus leather bag with stripes

alexandre herchcovitch triple bag

prada caramel leather bag

dolce & gabbana purse Dolce Box

beauty Cecilia Macedo (capa mgt) fashion producer Victor Miranda ModelS Bianca Gertz (Way Model) and Elle Ferraz (Joy Model) retouching rg imagem

It all started in the beginning of last year, when Jo達o Pimenta showed his collection at educational center Meninos, South Zone of S達o Paulo, in an activity promoted by SPFW. From it, another project was born, this turn at educational center Parais坦polis.

That is where the designer decided to invite locals to wear his Winter 2014 collection. Here is the result of this interaction between clothes and community, in exclusive images photo Gleeson Paulino styling JO達O PIMENTA

ProduCERS Marcelo Andreotti AND Paulo Café models Ebson Conceição Costa, Anderson Conceição Costa, Vinícius André da Silva Eleutério

dress and sunglasses ChloĂŠ

black panther photo Fe Pinheiro Styling Anne Raybaud

pants and blouse Miu Miu shoes Giuseppe Zanotti purse Roger Vivier

jacket and pants Gucci shoes Saint Laurent Paris

complete outfit Saint Laurent Paris earring Viveka

jacket Burberry Prorsum pants Gucci earring House of Flora

overalls Pucci necklace Helene Zubeldia

complete outfit Louis Vuitton

sweater and bathing suit Chanel belt Saint Laurent Paris sunglasses Prada

beauty luis Cambuzano hair Diego Américo model Thainá (L’equipe) photography assistant José Pelegrini styling assistant Karina Senyk retouching fred borba

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girl

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photo Henrique Gendre Styling Renata CorrĂŠa Art Lane Marinho

blouse SONIA PINTO bermuda shorts ZARA boots CHANEL

Joanna wears parka Alexandre Herchcovitch

overcoat and pants Fernanda Yamamoto shirt LACOSTE sandals Rober Dognani

coat Igor Dadona

shirt Dudalina sweatshirt Juliana Jabour dress and bag Christian Dior sandals Rober Dognani

top PatBo coat Coven

shirt ermenegildo Zegna coat tied to the waist Triton pants Apartamento 03 sandals Rober Dognani

sweatshirt Calvin Klein dress I贸dice jacket Diesel

Joanna wears top Egrey

jacket Colcci pants Prada

jacket Triton top Pedro LourenรงO over top Egrey pants Pedro Lourenรงo

coat Osklen belt Lolitta pants B.Luxo

coat Diesel top Balenciaga for Trash Chic pants Triton

jacket and bermuda shorts Emporio Armani sandals Colcci

overalls Animale

top Louis Vuitton pants Osklen sandals Colcci

body from the stylist`s collection skirt UMA

vest Osklen bermuda shorts Bottega Veneta

vest Balmain for Mares Guia jacket Triton pants Ratier sandals Rober Dognani

t-shirt Adidas coat Vitorino Campos fanny pack ChaneL

jacket Ale Brito blouse Fendi pants Amaro

beaty Robert Estevão (Capa MGT) • fashion producer Bruna Sampaio • fashion assistant Guilherme Itacarambi • beauty assistant Patrick Pontes and Jô Castro • photography assistant Sándor Kiss, Gabriel Bianchini and Miro • Models Aline Weber (Mega Partners), Carol Thaler (Mega Partners), Frederico Bender (Ford), Joanna Zilli (Ford) • Acknowledgement cidade Matarazzo RETOUCHING Thiago Auge

Graphic Games

dress Alexandre Herchcovitch rings Camila Klein

photo gustavo ipolito Styling gabriela splendore

jacket emporio armani sandals osklen pants and earrings christian dior

shirt zibba for conceito showroom jacket reinaldo lourenรงo pants and sandals osklen rings camila klein

Luiza and Alissa wear top and skirt reinaldo lourenรงo

top and sunglasses christian dior

blouse carolina herrera skirt and handbag christian dior sandals osklen

top osklen coat moncler for nk store

dress coven jacket fit sandals osklen bag reinaldo lourenรงo earring christian dior rings camila klein

Alissa (left) wears: top and pants gloria coelho handbag christian dior Luiza (right) wears: coat gloria coelho overalls zibba for conceito showroom sunglasses osklen

top llas earring christian dior

Alissa (left) wears: skirt reinaldo lourenรงo top and sandals osklen purse tory burch Luiza (right) wears: jacket lanvin pants and sandals emporio armani

top e sandรกlia emporio armani saia phillip lim para nk store bolsa christian dior

beauty CECร LIA MACeDO (capa mgt) fashion producer Renato Pinhel photography assistant Renato Costa and Victor Rocha Models alissa salls (ford), Luiza scandelari (way models) RETOUCHING Wm Fusion

A single man photo Adriano Damas Styling David Diniz

jacket and pants Adidas Originals tacape necklace David Diniz ingxabo necklace Sandro de Mauro on the left earring Sandro de Mauro

suit and shirt Alexandre Herchcovitch tie Balenciaga necklaces Sandro de MauroÂ

skirt and t-shirt TRENT necklace Sandro De Mauro

raincoat and tacape necklace David Diniz nenkabi necklace Sandro de Mauro and David Diniz

jacket Trendt pants Hangar 33 sandals Adidas Originals

shirt Alexandre Herchcovitch skirt UMA for thrift shop Capricho à Toa necklace Sandro de Mauro and David Diniz

art director Sandro De Mauro fashion producer Monica Ventura photography assistant Pericles Beirão MODEL AMADÙ

jacket Adidas Originals cloak David Diniz necklace David Diniz and Sandro de Mauro

The desire objects of the recently launched headpieces collection signed

by Davi Ramos are brought to life through the interpretation of eight admirable female personalities. Camila Faus, Céu, Costanza Pascolato, Flavia Pommianosky, Julia Souza, Michelli Provensi, Pétala Lopes, and Sofia Borges take over the stylist’s and image creator first collection, Liberdade, inspired by birds and composed by 21 unique pieces.

Women on top “Each has its own design, nothing is made in series. Not one is like the other”, says Davi about the limited edition hats, casquettes, and turbans. “It is a way of expression with a touch of poetry” – idea that perfectly complements this group of characters who reflect on fashion and the world in an unconventional way.

Read the interview with Davi Ramos on FFW.COM.BR

PHoto B ob Wolfenson St yling Fl avia P ommianosky

Camila Faus - screen director, screenwriter and photographer kimono Vitorino CamposÂ

Flavia Pommianosky - stylist blouse UMA

CĂŠu - singer blouse Gilda Midani

Michelli Provensi - model and author body Reinaldo LourençoÂ

PĂŠtala Lopes - photographer jacket Mugler para Trash ChicÂ

Julia de Souza - writer and poet sweater Max Mara top Janiero earring HEctor Albertazzi para Davi Ramos

Sofia Borges - visual artist jacket brechó B.Luxo

be aut y Silvio Giorgio (C apa MGT) be aut y assistant Thiago Pereir a fashion producer Well Santos and Sam Tavare s photo gr aphy a ssistant Adriano Gonfiantini, Gabriel Cicconi and Sofia Fromer

Costanza Pascolato - businesswoman coat Alexandre HerchcovitchÂ

On Instagram, they publish youth and the effortless style with a je ne sais quoi appreciated by many. They are almost ordinary, like you and me. Almost… photo Cristiano Madureira Styling Michael Vendola

jaqueta Cotton Project calça Osklen camiseta Hanes boné Cavalera bota Westcoast

Vini Uehara — @viniuehara

Leonardo Picon — @leopicon

jacket, shorts and pants Ellus tank top Hanes sneakers DC

Rafael Paixão — @rpassion

sweatshirt Diesel pants Triton t-shirt Hanes sneakers Z Zegna hat, bracelets and necklace Rafael’S personal collection

jacket Calvin Klein t-shirt Hanes shorts Triton sneakers Giorgio Armani

Gui Araujo — @guiaraujo13

jacket and pants Cavalera t-shirt Hanes

Gabriel Gontijo — @gabriel_gontijo

Bruno Sia — @brunosia

tank top and pants Osklen t-shirt Hanes

Roberto Maia — @robertomaiaoficial

Grooming Ricardo dos Anjos (Capa MGT) • fashion production Luele Furquim photo assistant Bruno Lazzarotti • retouching Jorge Morabito acknowledgement House of Beauty

overcoat and pants Prada t-shirt Hanes

SHAMIR

“My tone of voice is exactly like me, a bit masculine and a bit feminine, in the exact degree”

A

By João Lourenço :: Photo Ruvan s soon as he finished high school, Shamir Bailey, 20,

Labels left aside, one thing is certain: Shamir’s lyrics are

grouped songs of different genres on a demo and

personal, honest, as if they were extracted from the diary of

forwarded it, by e-mail, to an independent producer

a young man who has lived beyond his years. “I believe that

in Brooklyn. “The next day, I received an unexpected reply:

today it is easier to expose your wounds to everyone, because

‘Come to New York, I want to work with you as soon as

deep down it seems nobody pays attention, people are distrac-

possible’”, he recalls, smiling. And she should be smiling.

ted. So, I’m not bothered by the personal tone of my songs.”

In less than a year since becoming a pro, Shamir was invited

Specialized publications have compared Shamir’s androgy-

to sing at MoMA, joined the selective Sound of 2015 BBC list,

nous timbre with musical legends such as Nina Simone, Prin-

and launched his first album, Northtown – the title is in honor

ce, and Michael Jackson. “It’s great to be compared with them,

of the Las Vegas suburb where he grew up. “Before sending the

but I can’t let myself get carried away by those remarks. At the

demo, I thought that no one would pay too much attention to

end of the day, I have to keep working on my music.”

it. I didn’t expect the kind of reception I got. I believed I would

He defines himself as a countertenor. “It took me a while

keep my day job at Topshop and have an uneventful life, and,

to accept my timbre; so many jokes have been made about my

in the meantime, work in music. It’s as if my passion became a

voice.” He jokes: “My tone of voice is exactly like me, a bit mas-

business. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, I’m just trying to

culine and a bit feminine, in the exact degree”.

adjust my life around this sudden success.”

Shamir says that he doesn’t intend to pursue a career in

His interest in music comes from his aunt, his mother’s

great capitals. After refusing invitations to move to New York

twin, who also helped raising him. “As a child, I remember my

and London, he’s back in Las Vegas, where he awaits the laun-

aunt always had musician friends over. She was a poet, so she

ch of his first album that should hit the shelves late March.

helped them come up with lyrics and melodies. She always en-

“It is an extended version of Northtown. I am satisfied with

joyed that kind of collaboration. At 9, I won my first guitar and

the result. I had the freedom to play with several genres and

I was self-taught. Today, my aunt also collaborates with me.”

influences. I admire artists like Tegan And Sara, who never

This welcoming environment and close relationship with

kept their heads down for anyone. Each new album is different

musicians from various backgrounds had a direct influence on

from the one before, they are not worried about style continui-

Shamir’s sound, a mixture of pop, soul and rap. He has even

ty. And that is what I hope to achieve.”

ventured into country.

When asked about the future, Shamir keeps his feet on the

About these countless references, Shamir explains: “If I

ground and is emphatic: “I don’t want to be that kind of artist

had been raised somewhere else, my music would be diffe-

without an education. I think about finishing my studies. I’d

rent. Think of cities like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles,

also like to take writing classes for movies and TV. If all fails,

where there are a variety of scenes, one more specific than the

I’ll go back to Topshop”.

other. When you are part of a group, you end up listening to

—

the same music; even the way you dress is alike. Here in Ve-

soundcloud.com/shamir326

gas that kind of scene doesn’t exist. It helped me experiment a little of everything”. music

coat osklen

RICO DALASAm

Rico Dalasam Rapper and gay, he breaks barriers with verses about acceptance, genders, and partying

By Mark Cardoso :: Photo Hick Duarte :: Styling Rico Dalasam

I

t was night. I was late. The outing for pizza and conversation

everybody that does that. Most adjust to what lies in front of them,

happened on the ground floor of Copa, the vertical bulwark

to keep the life and pay the bills. In my case, I just didn’t fit. My

of urban diversity. Just like the iconic building, many

essence protected me.”

dichotomies fit inside Rico Dalasam, the first known of gay

Rico Dalasam, now 25, started working early on. At 13, he was

rapper of São Paulo’s outskirts. Rico is from Taboão da Serra, city

already an assistant at a hair salon. “Doing hair was the way I found

belonging to São Paulo’s Metropolitan Area.

to make money without having to work at McDonald’s, which was

“Chicken with cheese for me, please”. His flavor of choice

what was available at the hood for those who didn’t want to take a

is popular and full-bodied, just like his philosophy. “My mother

wrong turn”, states he, who, for a long time, was the only black kid

comes from a profound Brazil, you feel me? From Itabuna, Bahia.

in the private school he went to – opportunity conquered by his

She came from a situation similar to slavery: she has a home,

mother’s tears and letters to the school board.

but no pay. My dad would run off and, each time he resurfaced,

“In pre-school I had a friend who became sort of my brother

another son was born. I am the youngest. I arrived ten years after

because we already identified as queer: something like, ‘ouch, don’t

Ana Paula was born”, he introduces himself. At the time, Rico’s

touch my hair!’”, he recalls, jokingly. “But at the end, when it came

mother already worked a lot. His sister had to help raise the

the time for the exercise ‘draw your best friend’, I noticed that nobody

children. “Paula is a very strong influence on me. I learned to write

drew me. And I didn’t want to draw anyone from class either!”

with her handwriting, listening to pagode and rap on the radio. My

For Rico, who has being the opening act for Racionais MC’s,

dream was to write the letter ‘e’ like my sister’s! I practiced and

rejection is what fuels him. “The most amazing things I’ve seen

practiced… When I realized, my handwriting was so girlish. I didn’t

happen are a result of it. If you take that and channel into creativity,

do well in school, but I had the most beautiful notebook.”

the world is filled with a remarkable narrative!” In the opposite

Besides his sister, Rico has many idols in life. “I never had

direction, the rapper says that, in the hood, that’s not always what

someone of the likes of Che, Bob Marley, Tupac. My idols were

happens. “You are so oppressed that when it’s time to feel, during

someone near me, from the hood.” We say that is a common trace

the catharsis, you might kill everyone that oppresses you. Rap fills

of the Y Generation. “Yes… I see that from the perspective of the

that role for me: time for revenge! Racionais talked about killing

creation of statements, for example… It was a time of darkness.

governor Fleury, you feel me? It’s like Django Unchained.”

Today, fashion industry builds on top of the artist. Industry creates to see if it’ll stick, if it’ll become a product”, he analyses.

Years later, self-acceptance is what he preaches, sings and rhymes. The first time Rico uploaded a song on SoundCloud was

On the other hand, he confesses his admiration for Oprah

in 2012. “But I took it off”, he says, filled with self-criticism. Two

Winfrey. “I read her story about two years back. It may seem silly,

years on, on the eve of Carnival, he launched “Aceite-C”. After five

but her ability to turn a situation around caught my attention.”

months, Rico assembled a group and recorded the video for the

According to Rico, the line traced where he comes from always

song, which is a part of his first EP, Modo Diverso. “The second

boarders defeat, tragedy, crime, drugs –selling or using it. “She

video is already done. We recorded at the drag festival Bushwig, in

built a curve, right? And that curve is to talk tough. And it’s not

New York, all dressed up.”

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dress ROBER DOGNANI

RICO DALASAm

dress and sneakers ADIDAS

Now, a bachelor in audiovisual, Rico began to study fashion.

black… And I like boys. How am I going to publicly deal with that?

But at a certain point he felt he was wasting time and money so he

But at the end everyone is black, everyone is suburban. When you

quit. Due to the time he spent working at a salon, he knew all the

look someone in the eye, talk and have a firm handshake, people

names in the industry. And he bumped into one of them in a sort of

respect you. I was lucky because I figured that out from the start.”

divine coincidence. “I was waiting to cross St. Augusta when I saw

Luck being a major factor in his life on more than one occasion,

Max (Weber). Then I said: ‘You are that makeup artist, right? How

Rico believes that now his mission is to inject self-esteem around

does someone become your assistant?’. Then he said: ‘Oh, it’s like

and be the voice of those who can’t shout. “There are thousands of

The Karate Kid. You show up, carry the bags, wash the brushes…’.”

minorities aged 13, whose mother is evangelic and whose dad is an

During that exchange, he got Max’s e-mail and showed him his

alcoholic. The will to die is insane, bro. And I want to be there to

work. A week later, Rico was backstage of a cover shoot for the

tell them there’s still time.”

former Vogue RG. “It was an anniversary number, with women

In his sound, the rapper appears conscious that he is surfing a

from carioca aristocracy and others from São Paulo, looking jet

momentarily hype. If what we see now is merely the tip of a possible

lagged, silly (laughing)”, he recalls. He thought everything was so

iceberg, where will that visibility be channeled? “I want a thousand

magical. “And it did feel like The Karate Kid, you know? I’d arrive

Ricos Dalasam around, in Paraíba, in Amapá, in Sergipe… Think

at the set and Max would say: ‘Bring the lipstick that I used on her’.

about it! Some kids rapping together!”

I’d look at the desk and there were 59 lipsticks! ‘Which one was

After the euphoria in speaking about what he stands for, Rico

hers?!’ You need to have a memory the size of an elephant’s! But

contemplates what’s left in his plate, at the table. “My story comes

I love that hectic rhythm. And that’s what I am like. Max is also

with a mission. I’m talking about biblical shit!”, he declares. “In

a Leonine, you feel me?”

the book (referring to the Old Testament), the kids were about to

Holding the moist glass of soda, Rico says that he has spent

die. A woman puts him in a basket and dumps him in the river.

a lot of time in church, at the lead. “I was the dude who looked

Then comes along Pharaoh’s daughter, finds the baby and bam!,

after the young ones. I dug bossing them around.” He says that, for

he becomes prince of Egypt and frees the Hebrews from slavery.

a long time, he stayed there and was welcome. “When I arrived,

And if you lay it down, that’s it: we didn’t turn to crime; we went

I had already had a boyfriend. But they always wanted me there.

near the bullet corner right there, the Nile. We survived it… And

They’d say: ‘Come on, bro, you are awesome! But don’t go down

then excuse me while I step out of the basket here straight to the

that path. Here is another deal’.”

red carpet (laughing)!”

From that point on, Rico shaped his black pride as a matter of survival. After all, he was the embodiment of the country’s worst

— instagram @ricodalasam

statistics: poor, black, and gay. “At first, I was confused: ‘I’m already FFWMAG 39

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In a photographic register for FFWMAG, guitar player Benke Ferraz shows the trip the band made through the United States and Europe, where they presented their psychedelic style inspired in the 1960s and recorded their second album

On the road with boogarins

By Kátia Lessa

P

laying in renowned festivals like Lollapalooza, in São

because they sing rock in Portuguese. When I ask them how they

Paulo, Primavera Sound, in Barcelona, or SXSW, in

define their own sound, the band likes the label “song rock”.

Texas. Opening act for Scottish band Franz Ferdinand,

For them, singing in Portuguese is curious because it attracts

American’s Of Montreal and sharing the stage with Tame Impala.

and audience that is truly interested in the music, even without

None of it affects the members of Boogarins, from Goiás.

understanding what they say. That is how fellow musicians from Of

When speaking about success, they sound like they still don’t

Montreal complimented them backstage of the international tour.

believe it. In 2014, the band made 141 concerts in six months’

The first stop, not only musical, but as international tourists,

time. One hundred and one of those were performed abroad. “It

happened in Austin, Texas. In the same city, they went to the

seems that Brazilians appreciate something more when success

Austin Psych Fest, which they say was one of the best experiences

comes from abroad. We forwarded our work to local and foreign

they had in festivals around the world, along with the endless

blogs, but local blogs only wrote about us when we were being

hours of music at Primavera Sound.

talked about overseas”, says guitarist Benke Ferraz, co-founder

Despite their hectic schedule, they were able to watch Ty

of the band with vocalist Fernando “Dinho” Almeida, when

Segall and The Love Language play. The latter hosted them when

they were still in school. In the current formation, Boogarins

Boogarins played in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States.

has Raphael Vaz, bass, and a recent important acquisition, the

Even without great productions of stage and costumes, they

virtuous Ynaiã Benthroldo, a former Macaco Bong, on the drums.

have something of the 1960s in their look as well as in their

Besides the launch of the album As Plantas Que Curam, which

sound. “Sometimes we use articles from thrift shops and talk

was released outside Brazil by American label Other Music,

about costumes so it looks like there is a unity on stage, but that

something else is on the tracks. In June, they are launching their

is far from being a concern for us. Before worrying about what we

second record, still unnamed. The album was recorded in Gijon,

look like, we still have a long way to go musically.”

Spain, during their international tour. “We are dying to release

For producer Carlos Eduardo Miranda, who launches (but

the second record because the songs on the first one were written

doesn’t produce) Boogarins’ record in Brazil, the advantage of

too long ago. We have songs written in 2009”, says Benke.

working with them is dealing with guys who aren’t afraid of working

The name of the band was found in a botany book. According

hard and experimenting. “They are a real road band”, he says.

to Benke, it was inspired by the name of a flower that exhales pure love. Boogarins’ perfume is intoxicating, with its vocals

BOOGARINS.COM

in falsettos and daring guitars. It brings to mind Os Mutantes,

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“View from the van of the Joshua Tree National Park”

“Me playing with Dinho’s Silverstone, backstage Bottletree Cafe, in Birmingham, Alabama. That night, I fell asleep on the same couch and woke up sweaty, glued to the leather” FFWMAG 39

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boogarins

Band photo at the Joshua Tree National Park, in California. This place is amazingly beautiful and unlike anything we had witnessed before.

The desert is something!

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boogarins

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boogarins

“We met a friend from high school in Berlin and spent a few days there, after the concerts with Neutral Milk Hotel in Germany. This is the Holocaust Memorial”

“Of Montreal backstage, before the concert in Pensacola (Florida)”

“Dinho and Raphael striking a pose at Song Harbor, in Charlotte, NC. I really like this one” FFWMAG 39

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boogarins

“Beautiful picture of our concert in Miami, opening for Of Montreal. We played with them seven or eight times, and every night they had people dancing. Amazing band!”

“We traveled a couple of times in a ferry-boat so that we wouldn’t spend more than 14 hours in a van on a single day.

It was our first time in a ship. We even watched Brazil get beaten by Germany in one of those, going from Spain to France. A bunch of Portuguese made fun of us”

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alice caymmi

Lunch with

Alice Caymmi (IN CONVERSATION WITH DJ ZÉ PEDRO) MYK

1.972 Peixoto Gomide St., Jardins, São Paulo

By Marcos Guinoza :: Photo Eudes de Santana Styling Juliana Cosentino and Nine Quentin

ALICE Myk has a good vibe and it was the place where I came

that soon led to a professional partnership. Alice’s second album,

to dine after the concert Rainha dos Raios (Lightning

Rainha dos Raios, produced by Diogo Strausz, was launched by Zé

Queen), at Teatro Itália. It is forever in my memory.

Pedro’s label, Joia Moderna.

Under Chef Mariana Camargo Fonseca, Myk specializes

ZÉ PEDRO Up to her first record (Alice Caymmi, 2012),

in Greek food. The construction, all white, the architecture

I believed she honored tradition. She lacked the

and decoration unpretentious, remind us of the typical houses

difference, the genius. One day, she said: “I’m not

embedded in the Greek islands’ hills.

Myk is in honor of Mykonos, the most famous of these islands.

Among the several starter options on the menu, Alice chose a flaky feta cheese pastry with organic honey and walnuts.

going to stick to this heritage, I’m going to transgress”.

Transgression gained form and content on the surprising Rainha dos Raios and her bold versions of songs such as “Homem”,

by Caetano Veloso, and “Meu Mundo Caiu”, by Maysa; in the

Zé Pedro skipped the starter.

It is hard to find the proper word to describe the meeting between Alice and Zé Pedro at Myk. Casual? Cathartic? Histrionic?

And how to faithfully transcribe a conversation defined by a thousand and one of Alice’s delicious and scandalous laughs? Put the blame on Zé Pedro, who made the singer laugh as there were

recreation of “Como Vês”, by carioca group Tono, and in “Meu Recado”, original song by Alice and Michael Sullivan. In the mix of references, there is still room for “Sou Rebelde”, by Lilian Knapp, “Princesa”, by MC Marcinho, and “Jasper”, written by Caetano, Arto Lindsay, and Peter Sheerer.

no tomorrow and laughed with her, in a way only best friends who

versions our own way. The record was conceived

decipher each other with a glance do.

ALICE Diogo and I are truly concerned about making

Zé Pedro saw Alice for the first time in a DVD by Danilo

Caymmi, the singer’s father. Stunned by the performance of Dorival’s granddaughter, niece of Nana and Dori, the DJ dug online, heard Alice’s recordings, and was blown away.

ZÉ PEDRO What I loved about Alice is that she is open to newness, musically as well as visually.

by the two of us, alone, in a bedroom. I was making crochet while he worked the machines, and I was saying: “This tune, yes; this tune, no”. I brought references from movies, short films, plays, soundtracks. I chose to bring visual references rather than musical ones that had already happened, because I feel that we have to

It was in a taxi, between Vila Madalena and Paulista Avenue, where

look at one art from the perspective of another.

the two of them talked for the first time. During this meeting, they

I always felt this way, that is why when I decided

discovered affinities. And from theses similarities grew a friendship

to become a singer, I took up theater lessons.

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Besides boasting praise from both critics and public, Rainha dos

ZÉ PEDRO Who are your favorite directors?

Raios called the attention of Paulo Borges, who became artistic

ALICE Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Wim Wenders, Scorsese.

director of Alice’s concert.

I like the violent ones, Scorsese and Tarantino.

ALICE If we are going to attach my image to the song, we do

ZÉ PEDRO Romantic comedies, never?

something crazy. Can you imagine me in something

ALICE I watch lighter stuff. I watch it when I don’t want

neutral, white? I can’t.

to think about anything. If I only see amazing

The show, which will be launched on DVD, debuted in

things, my head won’t stop running.

December, at Teatro Itália, in São Paulo, with video sceneries

ZÉ PEDRO Do your references come mostly from movies?

by Richard Luiz and exclusive costumes by designers Walério Araújo and João Pimenta.

ALICE Yes, and visual arts, performances, Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, I don’t know, Yoko

OCTOPUS AND SUCCESS

Ono’s work. Many visually strong artists.

Grilled octopus, topped with olive oil and fleur de sel, accompanied

ZÉ PEDRO What is the greatest image of Dorival Caymmi that

by farm potatoes, was Alice’s and Zé Pedro’s choice as a main dish.

you have?

To drink, a Château Julia, from Adrian, Greece. “It goes perfectly with

ALICE It’s funny, it comes to mind Neptune, the king

seafood”, explains the maître d’.

of the seas. I always imagined him as someone

The dishes are brought to the table at the moment Alice and Zé

sovereign, divine. It is funny because, instead of

Pedro speak about Rainha dos Raios’ success.

thinking about an orisha, what comes to my mind

ALICE At first, I was frightened by the speed in which it all

is a Greek god that has a powerful image to me.

happened. But, at the same time, my life is the same; it is

He was divine in each gesture. And strong. He

my body that gets sick.

created a force field around him, of wisdom, very important to those around him.

ZÉ PEDRO The sole thing I tell her is: “Sleep and be healthy. And take care of your saint”. When you reach meteoric success you

ZÉ PEDRO In Rainha dos Raios, you make a great combination

have to take care of your saint because there are days

of elite and popular Brazilian music. MC Marcinho

when things get tough.

and Maysa, what makes the two blend in your head?

How tough does it get?

ALICE My grandfather taught me not to judge, not to have a prejudiced view of things, that thing about high

ALICE I feel that when a friend comes along, stuck on

culture, low culture. He said he would like to be the

an idea or opinion that, in reality, I know it is

happy author of “Ciranda, Cirandinha”. So you realize

not something meant to help me. Some things

the great mark of a composer like him is exactly

are meant to knock me down. It amazes me the

the lack of pretense to create a virtuous or great

violence and the lack of perception people have

work in the way we are used to seeing. He saw the

towards their own feelings.

magnanimous beauty in music when it was as simple

About belonging to the Caymmi clan, Alice is blunt.

as possible and it was closer to popular thinking.

ALICE My family has no obligation to like my work, to

ZÉ PEDRO What moment of the show Rainha dos Raios translates

speak about me. I say: “Everyone, leave them alone.

you completely?

Because they have nothing to do with this”. We are a

ALICE When I sing “Homem”. To me it is very interesting; it

family, but we are individuals.

brings me lots of ideas, lots of possibilities.

Good conversation flows, swallowing time. But there’s still much to

ZÉ PEDRO Have you ever thought of following a different career?

say and Zé Pedro leads the way. From here on, as an interviewer.

ALICE I took a year of law in college.

ZÉ PEDRO Alice, which designers would you like to wear?

CHOCOLATES AND THERAPY

ALICE I like Walério Araújo, who is already working with me, Herchcovitch. For accessories, I like Christopher Alexander, and for shoes, Virgínia Barros.

ZÉ PEDRO From the arts, which one do you turn to when you are home?

Zé Pedro is excited when desert arrives – the three chocolate mousse (white, milk, and dark) seems to add extra flavor to their tempers towards the end of the conversation.

ZÉ PEDRO Alice, what do you eat for breakfast?

ALICE Film, literature, music.

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ZÉ PEDRO Gym?

ZÉ PEDRO Lunch?

ALICE All the time, otherwise I’d go crazy. But it’s more to

ALICE Rice, beans, and steak.

let out some steam than, I don’t know, look pretty.

ZÉ PEDRO At night?

ZÉ PEDRO When you are singing on stage, what are you

ALICE I don’t know, whatever.

thinking about?

ZÉ PEDRO Alice, have you ever had a great love?

ALICE I stare at people, at everything.

ALICE No.

ZÉ PEDRO Everything?

ZÉ PEDRO Not yet?

ALICE Everything! I see who is not enjoying, and then I keep

ALICE Not yet. Someone might be offended, but no.

looking at that person to try and bring them back.

ZÉ PEDRO Do you think you are the one who loves more than the men when you are dating?

you are the best, and one saying you are the worst,

ALICE At first, yes. At the end, I’m the one who leaves.

I drive people mad.

does the latter annul the 40?

ALICE Never. Even because those who say “the best” bring the hammer down on the one who says “the worst”.

ZÉ PEDRO What do you normally wear?

ALICE I wear a lot of weird things, sundry, to annoy people.

ZÉ PEDRO You go to Santos Dumont airport in your slippers, you come in here with slippers.

But it’s rare, you know? No one has actually come up and trashed me. If the reader wants to be the first...

ZÉ PEDRO Are you a religious woman?

ALICE I am.

ALICE A total carioca!

ZÉ PEDRO Alice, what is your relationship with your body? Is your life a struggle to have a body you don’t have?

ALICE It used to be a struggle, but that is over. I decided I’m not going to go hysterical. Either I work like crazy or don’t eat, you get it? Because when I work, I have to eat.

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ZÉ PEDRO When you, on Facebook, have 40 comments saying

167

ZÉ PEDRO What is your religion?

ALICE Candomblé.

ZÉ PEDRO Who introduced you to Candomblé?

ALICE My father.

ZÉ PEDRO Are you a woman who wants know the future?

music

alice caymmi

ALICE No, I think it gets in the way. But when I have to make a very important decision, when I really don’t know what I’m getting myself into, I ask.

Otherwise, if I’ll get married, if I’ll have children, who I will marry, I don’t.

ZÉ PEDRO When you were making Rainha dos Raios, did you turn to religion to check if it would work?

ALICE Because, José Jr.!

ZÉ PEDRO And now, after the success of Rainha dos Raios, do you keep up with your psychiatry maintenance?

ALICE Hahahahaha...

ZÉ PEDRO You don’t give it up?

ALICE No. I don’t miss a session, I’m never late.

ALICE No. I was afraid it would say no and that I wouldn’t be able to launch my album.

ZÉ PEDRO Why did decide to leave home so early?

ALICE Twenty-four is early?

ZÉ PEDRO What is your relationship with your parents like?

ZÉ PEDRO I left at 28. And someone had to push me out,

ALICE Their opinion carries a lot of weight.

I didn’t even want to leave! So you left home amid

ZÉ PEDRO Do you still think you are not trailing alone?

the process of Rainha dos Raios?

ALICE At work, I don’t ask for their opinion. But I do in my personal life.

ALICE Six months before launching the record.

ZÉ PEDRO And the experience of having your own house?

ZÉ PEDRO Are you in therapy?

ALICE Weird. At first, I thought I was at a hotel. Later

ALICE I’ve been in therapy for 10 years.

I started to grasp that the house was mine and that if I left something in a corner somewhere, it

ZÉ PEDRO With the same person?

would go bad; if I didn’t clean, it would stay dirty.

ALICE No, when I turned 18, I switched.

ZÉ PEDRO Do you think about other music projects?

ZÉ PEDRO A female therapist?

ALICE No, I still live Rainha dos Raios intensely.

ALICE Yes, always.

ZÉ PEDRO An ingenious record doesn’t come out every day.

ZÉ PEDRO Why not a man?

And you probably didn’t even have time to think about the next one...

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dress Diane von Fürstenberg earring Christopher Alexander

ALICE I didn’t, not really.

ALICE Hahahahaha... Do you think I am crazier than

ZÉ PEDRO And you are aware that this was a great step. After all of that, you’ll have to stop, clear your mind, think about something else. It is frightening, isn’t it?

you, Zé Pedro?

ZÉ PEDRO Completely! Because you are crazy and brave.

ALICE Someone please lock me up!!!!

ALICE More than you imagine. I know that people are just waiting to knock you down. After a good record, a

—

successful one, it always come a heavier wave of

soundcloud.com/rainhadosraios

criticism. But I’ll probably follow a totally different path, not contrary, but different, and I’ll hope to be understood.

ZÉ PEDRO This way of working with what doesn’t exist, the way you are managing Rainha dos Raios, with Paulo Borges, with everyone, that involves your image, it is a larger project that most singers don’t allow. Do you get distressed in search for the new?

ALICE Not distressed, but I have a very strong will.

ZÉ PEDRO Alice, what are you afraid of?

ALICE I’m afraid... I’m afraid of going... Crazy.

ZÉ PEDRO Hahahahaha... I am sorry.

ALICE I’m talking about going bananas, Zé! Of being like this (she makes a crazy face).

ZÉ PEDRO I am sorry. You’ve gone bananas years ago!

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The sensorial (and instigating) cinema of

Esmir Filho

By Marcos Guinoza Photo Alex Batista

esmir filho

E

smir Filho is restless. This is how he defines himself.

Esmir, begins filming this year. Starred by Andréa Beltrão,

And that is how he’s been building his career in film and

the movie is set in a beach, during New Year’s Eve, involving

on TV, avoiding labels, escaping common-place to dig

a famous music producer, a rock star, and a young writer in

into the unknown and find new perspectives for the projects he

search of a story. “Baleia talks about the conflict of a woman

accomplishes. “I feel anguish when I sense that I am stuck in one place.”

(Beltrão) who wants to be so much in control that she ends up

This restlessness comes from childhood. “My siblings and

facing a trail of losses.”

I were always agitated. We wanted to express ourselves in some

Esmir defines his filmmaking as “sensorial”. It is a con-

way and we ended up choosing a career in arts.” Esmir is a

templative cinema, made to “provoke sensations”. About the

filmmaker; his brother, Henrique César, is a visual artist; and

themes that interest him as a filmmaker, he says he likes to

his sister, Sarah Oliveira, is a TV presenter at GNT channel.

talk about moments of crisis that set off transformation pro-

Born in São Paulo, son to a psychoanalyst mother and an auditor father, Esmir was certain that he wanted to study film

cesses. “I never speak about what I know; I talk about what I want to find out.”

after he watched Nights of Cabiria (1957), by Federico Fell-

Besides being restless, Esmir is persistent. “When facing

ini. “I was 16 and I didn’t quite understand the ending, but

obstacles, I persist, I search for a loophole.” And he tries to

I felt something, I was moved. That is when I realized that

balance expectations. “What gets me down is when I’m hoping

image and sound can be much more powerful than words.”

too much for something and it doesn’t happen.” If he wasn’t

At the same time he studied film at Faap, at night, Esmir

a filmmaker, the only other career he would have followed is

worked in film during the day. “I started as a production in-

dancing. “I love to dance and, at 29, I started to take ballet.”

tern; later I became a finishing intern, then direction assis-

According to Esmir, yes, it is difficult to make movies

tant and, finally, director. It was good to go through all of

in Brazil. However, that seems to give him extra fuel. “This

these areas because, today, as a director, I can understand the

hardship is just another reason for me to keep at it.” Hyper

whole process.” Esmir insists on participating in every stage

connected, he’s the type of person who answers his e-mails

of a film production. Controlling? “No, involved. I like to be

right away. “And if I don’t get a reply, I go crazy.” He says he

involved. But I work with dialogue. I listen.”

doesn’t suffer from any of the evils caused by digital depen-

At 32, Esmir Filho has a respectable filmography. The short film Alguma Coisa Assim won best screenplay in the

dence. “I don’t dwell on what I don’t have. If lights are out, I light up a candle.”

2006 Cannes Festival. Saliva (2007) was chosen to be Braz-

Esmir’s inspirations come from life. “I never had idols,

il’s short film representative in the race for the Oscar’s. And

I’m passionate about things. What inspire me are the things

Tapa na Pantera, a hilarious smoky verbiage by actress Maria

that I bump into in life.” About the clothes he wears, like the

Alice Vergueiro, directed by Esmir, Mariana Bastos, and

shirt he had during the interview, bought in a thrift shop in

Rafael Gomes, was a hit on the internet, with more than 10

Japan, he ponders: “Everything I wear is a collection of the

million YouTube views. “In these short films I flirted with the

places where I have been.” Esmir doesn’t go out of his way to

sensorial, humor, until I arrived at my first feature film.”

buy clothes. “But when I’m out, I’ll buy them.”

The film he is referring to is Os Famosos e Os Duendes da

And just like this, “bumping into things”, that Esmir

Morte (2009), which put him on the list of the most prom-

moves forward in several fronts. He directed a spectacle that

ising directors of his generation. Based on the homonymous

mixes theater and cinema (Kollwitzstrasse 52); created the

book by Ismael Caneppele, the film won at Rio Festival and

Base, artistic residence for the development of screenplays;

was selected for the Berlin and Locarno festivals. Six years

traveled in a motorhome with O Terno to register, in VHS,

after the success of Os Famosos, he recalls what he felt once

the vintage and oneiric sound of the paulista group. “I am

finishing the movie. “When it ended I felt empty. I had noth-

restless”, repeats Esmir.

ing to hold on to. And that is when I thought: ‘I’m never going to work in just one project again’.”

— salivashots.com | instagram @esmirfilho

From this feeling of desertion came the production company Saliva Shots, founded by Esmir, in 2010, in partnership with filmmaker Thereza Menezes. “My intention was to have a content production company where I could curate special projects, so whoever arrived would think: “Hmm, Saliva does interesting things’.”

Among these “interesting things” are TV shows Calada Noite, for GNT, presented by Sarah Oliveira, and Filosofia Pop, for SescTV, headed by Marcia Tiburi. Perdido no Supermercado, Madeira de Lei , and Baleia are Saliva’s next cinematographic projects. Baleia, second feature directed by FFWMAG 39

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I T H I N K Gregorio Duvivier

i think

Between the hilarious, lyrical, and political

By Marcos Guinoza :: Photo Alex Batista

When we think about him, we think, foremost, of the comedian. It is so because everything he does comes with humor. Sometimes hilarious, as in Porta dos Fundos’ skits; other times lyrical, as in his weekly columns published on Folha de S.Paulo and compiled by Companhia das Letras in the book Put Some Farofa.

Carioca, graduated in Language by PUC-Rio, Gregorio Duvivier is currently the comedian in evidence in Brazil. He is also an actor. He is also a screenwriter. He is also a storyteller.

He is also an activist. And, mostly, he’s all that at the same time. “I like the pressure of modern life. I like to be pushed to produce.” And he doesn’t need Xanax, he guarantees.

Gregorio is the guest of this FFWMAG I Think section, and here he talks about humor, money, religion, internet, and more.

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Gregorio duvivier

HUMOR Humor lives from risk. Taking risks is fun-

SÃO PAULO E RIO DE JANEIRO

damental. At the same time, when a joke is

FEAR

São Paulo is getting better and better. The

too aggressive, it stops being funny. But a

I fear that fundamentalism will take over

investments in public transportation and

politically correct joke is also unfunny. Hu-

the world. Fanaticism doesn’t stop gro-

bicycle tracks are already having an effect.

mor lives on a tightrope between respect

wing. So many people want to go back in

They are creating new parks and public

and the lack thereof.

time and deny inalienable rights. I fight

areas. Rio, at the moment, is a deactivated

against that daily, through humor.

amusement park. The city is a construction

MONEY I think there is nothing wrong in making

TEASING

art for money. Art is an occupation as many

I’m not in the least bothered when I’m teased.

others; it needs to be sold. Of course that

I’m the first to do that. There is no quality

thinking about sales the whole time gets in

humor without self-irony.

the way. But selling art is also a kind of art

site of buildings for the great international events, with little real benefits (for now) for the population.

FASHION I follow very little what happens in the

in itself. I like to make things that reach out

RELIGION

to the most people, and that naturally brin-

I don’t believe in God and I fight for the ri-

thes all the time. In my closet there are only

gs a positive financial outcome. I don’t think

ght of not believing in anything. I believe in

stripped t-shirts.

about what to do with the profit. I keep it

humanity, responsible for magnificent and

and spend it. Some months I don’t spend

disastrous things. The invention of a cre-

JE SUIS CHARLIE

anything, others I spend everything. Most

ator and punitive god is among our most

I try to be Charlie, but I think it is preten-

times, I have no idea how much I have.

dangerous inventions.

tious to say that I am, because I think they

fashion world. I like to wear the same clo-

represented the bravest kind of humor

MODERN LIFE

INTERNET

Gosto da pressão da vida moderna. Gosto

I try to reduce the use of social networks as

challenge prohibitions. I don’t think they

de ser forçado a produzir. Escrevo onde dá,

much as possible. I use it to promote my

crossed a line. Their target was has and ex-

como dá. Não tomo ansiolítico, bebo com

work and keep an open channel with the au-

tremism, and I don’t think we have to im-

frequência, mas nunca muito – tenho uma

dience. I avoid getting into in the heat of the

pose boundaries when we’re talking about

ressaca impraticável. Fumo uns poucos ci-

moment discussions. For that, I prefer to do

the fight for freedom.

garros por mês, quando bebo.

some reading beforehand or write an article

—

on the newspaper, or a video for Porta, or

instagram @gduvivier

there is. The role of humor is exactly that:

a play. Facebook arguments lead nowhere.

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art

Giovanni Bianco and Erika Palomino in conversation with

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Giovanni Bianco

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moda

Conversation

As a child, he worked at a street market. Now, he works for labels like Versace and Miu Miu, is friends with Madonna and one of the most celebrated creative directors of our times

Madonna Re-Invention Tour Book, 2004

By Camila Yahn :: Photo Alex Batista São Paulo, 1/8/2015

“

M

y job is to sell”, says Giovanni Bianco. In fact, the

Rocha – he has recently moved, this time to an edifice signed

balance between elegance, innovation and what is

by architect and friend Isay Weinfeld. Giovanni starts this

comprehensible is the magic recipe of this carioca art

interview seated, but he’s soon standing and gesticulating,

director who conquered the World – with a capital letter – of fashion.

and he remains so until the end. Amid many stories, he

Giovanni is a hurricane, energetic, fast thinker, fast

talks about his relationship with Miuccia, Donatella, and

talker. He doesn’t like to listen to the same thing twice or to

Madonna, about the maddening timing of current fashion,

repeat something that has been said before. “What do you

the “ridiculous moment” of social networks, the lack of good

want to know about my life that you don’t already know?”, he

art directors in Brazil, and his humble and Italian upbringing

asks. The thing is that listening to Giovanni’s stories from his

in Santa Teresa, in Rio.

mouth has a whole new flavor.

This is the life’s plot of a Leonine who couldn’t wait and

His company, GB65, in the ultra-competitive New York,

was delivered at the hospital’s entrance. A child who worked

has clients like Versace and Miu Miu. In Brazil, among the

in the street market; a young man who wanted to be an artist;

best-known campaigns of his authorship are Arezzo’s, which

a Brazilian who dug his place in the international fashion

reinvent the image of soap operas’ actresses.

elite. Giovanni’s enthusiasm and courage are, perhaps,

This conversation took place in Giovanni’s apartment

above all else, what makes him one of the greatest creative

in São Paulo, in a building designed by Paulo Mendes da FFWMAG 39

directors of our time.

177

fashion

giovanni bianco

“When I moved to New York I didn’t speak a word of English.

Today I speak incorrectly, but I can speak. I find methods to explain my work; that has never been an issue”

made such an effort, but I’d hide in the bathroom until class was over. I did many years of word therapy and I didn’t read a book until I was older. I bought my first book at 23 and today I collect books and I am obsessed with them. My life has always been this way: everything I have, I had to fight for.

When did fashion enter into your life?

It was in 1993, with Dolce & Gabbana. In Milan, during the first five years, my only contact in fashion was Piera Paula, who was a famous model at the time [today, Piera is Giovanni’s right hand in Brazil].

I was poor and ate at her house. I’d make catalogs for galleries, logos, and I didn’t Ermenegildo Zegna ad campaign, Summer 2014

know the difference between Armani and Versace. I thought of myself as an

What was your major in university?

artist and that fashion was superficial.

tionship with your family like?

Civil engineering, but I quit into my third

Then I met Stefano Gabbana and Domenico

I was born to Italian parents, who met in

year to study art. I took classes of every-

Dolce at a party and they asked me if

Santa Teresa, in Rio. I stayed there until

thing, batik, painting… I could be the

I wanted to do a job for D&G. Soon after

I went to Milan, at 23. My father worked

king of the hippie market. My classmates

I was working with Dsquared2 and Max Mara.

in a street market and my mother at a

were people like Beatriz Milhazes, Daniel

How were your childhood and your rela-

pasta factory. During meals, my family

Senis, and Luiz Zerbini. One day, my pro-

You build a sustainable business in

gathered to talk about problems. Usually

fessor said in front of everyone that

Milan. Why did you move to New York?

yelling (laughing). I didn’t have a cul-

I didn’t have the smallest talent to be-

I was doing well in Milan, but I was 30 and

tural background and my parents’ edu-

come an artist. And it was my dream! He

some and if I didn’t move to New York

cation was based on the whip. I’m not

said I was a visual communicator, but at

then, I wouldn’t move at all. Dropping ev-

embarrassed to say it: my mom would

the time I had no idea what that meant.

erything in Milan and taking off to New

leave a wooden spoon in boiled water to

“You are a hell of an advertiser”, he’d say.

York with nothing wasn’t easy. But

spank me. It was her way of giving me

And he introduced me to Ana Couto

I wanted new challenges and for my work

boundaries and showing love.

[specialist in branding, owner of Ana

to become global. And I didn’t speak

Couto Branding], and she was a school

a word of English. I can’t inflect anything

Did you ever work at the market with

of visual identity. She was my first part-

in the plural, not even in Portuguese, let

your father?

ner. My professional debut, making

alone in English. Today I speak incorrectly,

The market shaped me. I started going at 5.

money, was the wedding invitation of

but I can speak. And it hasn’t brought me

I learned to connect, to understand the se-

Claudia Raia and Alexandre Frota (laughing).

any problems until now, at 50. The first question someone asks me when they

duction game between sale and purchase.

My dad would say that I was lazy, because

How did you deal with dyslexia?

hear me speak English is: “How long have

I arrived at sat at a box. And he said that

I never wrote one single essay in my life.

you been living in New York?”. So, lately

I couldn’t be a good marketer if I was sitting

I had difficulty in reading and I still have

I’ve been introducing myself like this:

the whole time. I also had this crazy chro-

trouble with languages. I hated the

“I am Giovanni, I am dyslexic, and I make

matic thing with fruits (laughing).

English classes my father paid for. He

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178

mistakes in English” (laughing).

fashion

Conversation

“Instead of doing something well, I have to work ten times more making ten times less money. I have to keep thinking what’s going to come up next, because if I don’t, my client is going to think I’ve become outdated”

And how do you manage to work with the best professionals in the world in New York without properly speaking the language?

Steven Klein asks me a question and some days everything comes out right.

Others, I put ten words in Italian in the mix (laughing). But I have always worked abroad. I have even given a seminar in Japan, speaking whatever language. I find methods to explain my work; that has never been an issue.

How do you define your profession? And what is your work? Do you still draw in the computer?

People say I am a creative director, but I

work

with

visual

communication.

Miu Miu campaign catalog, Verão 2013

I haven’t sat in front of the computer in ten years and that is the greatest sad-

I can’t call them competitors because

brave, going out into the world. I went to

ness of my life. When I started working,

we each have specific features. David

Europe with no money, slept in a train sta-

computers didn’t exist, so it’s easy for

James has been doing Prada for years,

tion; I was willing to work for it. I don’t

me to seat, brief my team and follow

he is exceptional. Fabien Baron is a genius;

know how much disposition to do that

their work. Today, I’m the person who

it’s embarrassing to say someone is his

people have anymore.

puts everything into context. I have a

competition, because he’s the one who

360 degrees view, so I can see where it’s

started everything we do today. And

What makes a fashion ad really good?

going to go, who it’ll reach etc. When

that is it.

It needs to sell and respects the brand-

How is it like to work with you? You are

to be seductive, to make you remember

ing, the label’s DNA. But the image has

I was poor, I did everything on my own and I was always the first to finish layouts. Today, my concern is the idea.

known for being difficult and tempera-

the label. It’s the model, the kind of photo,

Each time I’m more of a manager, I take

mental.

everything. Something in the picture has

care of paperwork, hold meeting with

I am difficult, but I am fun. I’m only dra-

to speak to you. Today, everyone is a

accountants, agents, clients… My cre-

matic with unprofessional people who

photographer, art director, journalist, so

ative duties represent 40%; the rest is

try to get away with everything. There’s

what is needed is to look at the quality of

putting out fires.

no getting away with me.

your work. But it’s no use having just a good ad. A successful job is much more

What is the kind of work you enjoy doing?

What is the level of art directors in Bra-

than that: it has to consider desirability,

The ones without budget constraints,

zil? Why are there few good profession-

price, status, the union of all the actions

like Miu Miu’s catalog, which is “the”

als working in fashion?

you are doing with the label. It encom-

dream. No one touches those. In four

There is a lack of opportunity of platforms

passes a series of things and they all

hours I finish what it would take an as-

and clients. I became good because I had

need to be well done.

sistant one week to execute.

many opportunities. We have professionals with potential, but few magazines and

Photoshop is used in excess nowadays.

Who is the competition?

few clients in fashion. There’s also a lack of

When do you think it is necessary?

I like the artistic work of M/M Paris, but

initiative on the part of new talents, being

It’s a picture of the world we are living in.

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fashion

giovanni bianco

“Madonna is unbelievable. Do you want to do something that will become a hit? Than do it, redo it. Look at it and do it again. That means: work hard. That is also what I believe. It’s tough; no one is born a genius”

absolute control. Madonna was so important in my generation… I’m still a fan, and she knows it. But she also knows that I am very professional. We developed a work relationship and friendship was a consequence.

When did you realize you had won her over?

During the yoga book, X-Static Process, I realized she was seduced. I might be the art director who has worked with her the longest. It’s been ten years, four album covers, four tours (Confessions, Re-Invention, Sticky & Sweet e MDNA), and we are going on the fifth now. A lot of great stuff has happened. Sometimes she’ll sing a song, just for me, to brief me about the record.

Madonna, MDNA Tourbook, 2012

I always think it could be better. It can

What was the creative process behind

Women wear makeup, apply Botox. It’s a

be the worst job in the world, but I do it

the visual identity of Rebel Heart like?

reflection of today’s society. I doubt

as if it were Madonna’s record cover. I try

It was very special. The photo is by Mert

someone, today, wants to take a picture

to exceed myself and go beyond my limits,

Alas and Marcus Piggott, and I created

and choose to look natural, with wrinkles

and I still have doubts. Now you under-

the logo, which was handmade. It is nice

and other things.

stand why people say I’m difficult?

looking, simple, and it was well received.

People’s lives aren’t free of Photoshop.

The guys at my studio said they didn’t Speaking of Madonna, how did that

like it at first, but when we’re talking

changed the industry. Has the focus on

partnership began?

about Madonna, we have to think that it

profit and growth limited creation of

It was a matter of being at the right

is a work that reaches many people. That

Great

fashion

holdings

completely

fashion campaigns and images in any

place at the right time and being lucky

has to be taken into consideration dur-

way?

as hell. I went to Los Angeles to work

ing creation. Can you believe that I have

Absolutely. The creative idea in itself

with Steven Klein and Brad Pitt – who

seen the logo tattooed on people? When

became 20% of the work.

was late – and Klein said: “Tomorrow

could I have imagined that someone

I am photographing a friend of mine,

would tattoo one of your creations? It is

Does that represent a drop in quality?

would you give me a hand?”. He wanted

very moving to see that.

It does. I no longer have time to think.

to test me to see if I would stay longer in

Before, we had four weeks to deliver a

town just because of him. And the friend

What did you learn from her?

job. Now timing is inhumane, the client

was Madonna! So we made the repro-

Madonna is unbelievable. Do you want to

wants to leave the photo-shoot with the

duction pictures for the Re-Invention Tour.

do something that will become a hit? Than do it, redo it. Look at it and do it again. Take

layout ready, with the logo applied, the whole nine yards. Everything has to be

How is it like to work with her? To what

another look. Don’t settle. That means:

for yesterday. But I apply my energy, I go

extend does she interfere and how far

work hard. She is a machine, she gives her

crazy. I spend a lot of time because I be-

can you create?

blood. And that is also what I believe. It’s

lieve the quality of my work is funda-

Today I have the freedom to say any-

tough, no one is born a genius; the genius is

mental. I am a total perfectionist, so

thing, but she has the final word, she has

in how much you use your work machine.

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Conversation

“My clients almost force me to have many followers on Instagram.

From time to time I need to make a selfie because I’ll gain more followers if I do. It’s ridiculous”

You also work with other two strong women, Miuccia Prada and Donatella Versace.

Miuccia is very formal, contrary to Donatella, who’ll pick you up and put you on her lap. I learned a lot working for Prada and Miu Miu. I have this Latin thing, of becoming friends right away, but that doesn’t happen with Miuccia.

It’s not that she is a snob, it’s cultural.

Italians from the north are not in the least Latin. There is personal and there is professional, and Miuccia makes that very clear. Donatella is different. You become friends before the work begins. In a work for Zegna, I sit at a huge table with 400 executives wearing suits. Fashion is just a detail. I also have to wear a suit; it feels like a bank meeting. With Donatella I can wear slippers.

Campaign of the Versace for Riachuelo campaign, 2014

Many professionals post on their Instagram accounts pictures of their famous

Internet and social networks have pro-

Are you afraid of something?

clients, but you don’t.

voked huge changes in our industry and

Of everything and nothing. I don’t dwell

I don’t take advantage of any of that.

in the way people relate to each other.

on the past or on the future, I live my

I don’t need to become friends with peo-

Internet created a lazy generation. Today

present intensely, and that makes me

ple to have things. It needs to happen

everything comes easy. Everyone has an

have minutes of fear every day and at

naturally, if it happens. I have taken pic-

opinion about everything; it’s annoying.

the same time have no fears at all…

tures with hundreds of artists and I don’t

Before, you had to study hard, be fo-

I don’t know how that works in my

post anything. I have photos with

cused, willing to know what was new.

brain (laughing).

Rihanna that I could post, but why would

Now there’s no need for effort.

I do that? I can achieve things with the quality of my work.

— INSTAGRAM @gb65

Surely new media increased your work load.

Definitely. The thing is that every day, in-

Do people pressure you to post those

stead of doing something well, I have to

pictures?

work ten times more making ten times

I know my role in the game, how much

less money. I have to keep thinking

social is important, but I take care of

what’s going to come up next, because if

my own business. I know where I come

I don’t, my client is going to think I’ve be-

from; I only achieved success because

come outdated. That is why there are

I’m good at what I do. But I’m not an

only young people in my team, I want

idiot. My clients almost force me to

their energy.

have many followers on Instagram.

From time to time I need to make a

What is your greatest challenge today?

selfie because I’ll gain more followers

Not going mad, not giving up, not

if I do. It’s ridiculous.

losing energy.

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Erika Palomino

Conversation

Symbol of a generation crazy about fashion, the journalist talks about communication in the era of Instagram, states the death of fashion critics, and tells how art and technology inspire her more than clothes

Erika with Alexandre Herchcovitch in Paris, in 1994

By Carolina Vasone :: Photo Vivi Bacco São Paulo, 1/30/2015

L

ooking ahead has always been Erika Palomino’s specialty.

“I’m obsessed with innovation; I want to do something diffe-

Twenty seven years ago, when she began her career at

rent. I don’t want to do more of the same.” The sentence, said

Folha de S. Paulo, she was already digging into the future

in several ways throughout two hours of conversation in Erika’s

by writing about what was new in electronic music in the column

apartment, near Paulista Av., says a lot about her personality

“Noite Ilustrada”. When fashion shows still took place inside

and explains enough of her trajectory, including her exit of her

nightclubs, she saw in the darkness of the dance floor and on

latest project, the creative direction of L’Officiel Brazil.

the body of a drag queen Alexandre Herchcovitch’s talent. She

In the next pages, the journalist opens up – in a clear and

pushed on to establish herself as an important fashion critic

blunt manner, a rarity for interviewers and a talent of good com-

and after 17 years at Folha she moved on to the promising and

municators – and tells her what she thinks about current fashion

unknown universe of the internet. The project involved a website,

critique and journalism, about the editorial market, and young

a conceptual magazine (Key), and a space for cultural events in

Brazilian designers.

partnership with great brands. A business model as current as it was criticized at the time. One of the prices to be paid when one has an avant-garde spirit.

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fashion

erika palomino

“People want a recipe: how to dress, cake recipe, life recipe.

Formulas. They want things ready-to, so, I don’t know, I don’t want to do more of the same” Something else that I found out is that

Perhaps the scenario. On the other hand,

people want a recipe: how to dress, cake

you have fashion information that comes

recipe, life recipe. Formulas. They want

to your phone; it’s not even on the internet,

things ready-to, so, I don’t know, I don’t

on the computer, which is too fast: it’s

want to do more of the same.

almost as if it were the fast fashion of the information. It’s the process of turning the

Tribal head from the Amazon, at Erika’s house

How do you view the editorial market today?

world into an Instagram post, which works

I see what is happening to the Brazilian ed-

very well in fashion. It is a platform very

itorial market with a little bit of sadness.

adequate for fashion: it is fast, instanta-

Not only because magazines have become

neous. It deals with something very much

bureaucratic, but because sometimes you

present in fashion, the ego: who you’re

see a magazine doing a different cover,

with, where you are, what you are wearing,

daring, and the industry comes and says

if you spent your vacation in a place cooler

“that looks horrible, what is that font?”.

that your followers or friends. And you ab-

Guys, at least they are trying, there is

sorb that in the speed of a scroll, with that

someone trying to do something different

level of shallowness. So, fashion, which

in a pre-established structure. I rather take

used to be “the empire of the ephemeral”,

chances, people that take chances. That is

as Gilles Lipovetsky said [in his book Empire

good. And something else is the general-

de l’éphémère], has become “the empire

Why did you quit L’Officiel?

ized lack of money, the international

of the superficial”. Ephemerality is not the

I believe in cycles; I stayed for three years.

brands advertise, but the national labels

issue of fashion, because fashion changes

As a Scorpio, I am cyclothymic. Lately,

don’t have the funds, the ones who do are

the whole time, but superficiality is what

I had many attributions: besides ten yearly

not the coolest. Therefore, that is a really

worries me. Nowadays, labels, designers,

numbers of L’Officiel women, there was

bad moment for the editorial industry, and

have to create events that can be posted.

the men’s edition, the travel edition, the

it wasn’t the moment when I joined, three

Unique [hotel] magazine. I took care of

years ago. There is a wave of squared atti-

In that picture, is there still room for

everything as editor-in-chief, publisher,

tude and conservativeness that ends up

fashion critique?

thinking about the whole project, not only

contaminating people who are creative.

Each time you log on to Instagram, fashion

the content, but also the business side. The

Today, Brazilian market is not prepared for

critique becomes less relevant. The reviews

project moved towards a different direc-

different products, for incredible products.

and articles published by independent

tion and what I wanted and what they

There isn’t a kind of reader that will absorb that.

platforms, like newspapers, for instance, or even websites, lost importance before

wanted became irreconcilable.

Why do you think that is? Would it be be-

society girls who have money to buy every-

In what sense did it change? The maga-

cause of the internet, that changed the way

thing or are paid to dress. Then it becomes

zine has a more traditional style and you

fashion is communicated, and the maga-

a festival of outfits of the day, of “look at

are avant-garde. Was it in this sense:

zines are weakened as a result? Where does

my #nameofthelabel shoes that I have on

they were looking at one direction and

this squared attitude come from?

today, you guys”. And you look at the num-

you at another?

Some of it is who you’re talking to; there is

ber of people who follow these girls, it’s

When I joined L’Officiel, I thought I had the

the matter of what these people expect of

massive. Come on, she goes, puts five out-

freedom to do something different. That

magazines as a product. There is the cost,

fits together, calls a professional photog-

was one of my challenges. What I found

which is high; there is an industrial graphic

rapher who shoots her while she’s pretend-

out is that people want more of the same.

process that elevates a magazine’s pro-

ing to cross the street, she publishes it, and

From advertisers to readers, and that is

duction cost to the roof.

everyone says: “Oh, that is beautiful, so and so, I love it!”. It is so puerile, childish,

frustrating, because each time I tried to do something different, either people didn’t

But it always happened like that, right?

adolescent, that I find it madness. It is the

get it, or it was outside the market tracks,

Magazines were always expensive and

times changing. I follow some bloggers.

of what other magazines were doing.

the readers were there…

After a while, I stop, because I grow tired.

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fashion

Conversation

“Each time you log on to Instagram, fashion critique becomes less relevant” There are some I am more sympathetic to-

doing something shallower. That is why I

wards, others less so. I think the best and

am happy with Cathy Horyn’s return, she

coolest will remain.

is my favorite. I come from the Suzy Menkes school, but later I started to like

Who do you like to read?

Cathy better. What I think is cool is that

Fashion is a “window”, you need to have

you can have several visions, because the

seen and studied things, to have had your

whole fashion structure is made by com-

head propped up on your elbow looking

parison. If you can’t compare a collec-

out the window, even if from a distance,

tion with another, a season with another,

but you need to have watched carefully in

a critique with another…

order to give an opinion worthy of consideration. In terms of fashion journalism,

Is fashion journalism in your plans for 2015?

I think there is information well-con-

Look, it doesn’t mean that I will never be

structed in outlets like Business of Fashion,

back in a newsroom, but not this year.

which is an excellent website, and WWD,

I don’t just do what I want, but I also al-

from which the industry feeds off. There

low myself to not do what I don’t want

are other websites that bring fresher ideas,

to. In 2015, Melissa celebrates its 35th

such as Nowness. And I often read The

anniversary. So, there is a lot going on

New York Times, that keeps you informed

and I am taking care of the projects. I’ve

about everything; I find their work impressing.

been a consultant for the brand for 14

There is a crazy American I like, filmmaker

Paris, 2000s, after Galliano’s show

years. My work consists of travelling

Ryan Trecartin. I like art photography,

And who are the names of the global in-

abroad, setting the macro mood, and

which is something that deeply inspires

dustry you admire today? Because this

proposing collection themes, partner-

me. I stepped away from fashion photog-

picture has also changed a lot, Suzy

ships with designers and artists. I say

raphy; I started to look at people like Bel-

Menkes, for example – who was a great

I am a professional opinion giver. I want

gian photographer Willy Vanderperre. Last

bastion of independent critique at Inter-

to write a new book, but only after Sep-

year, I went to Paraty em Foco, a photo-

national Herald Tribune –, is making

tember, because until then I’ll be busy

graphic exhibition, and I discovered the

a different kind of work at Condé Nast

with Melissa. I even want to launch

work of David Alan Harvey, which is

international; Cathy Horyn left the NYT…

a magazine with some people I liked

a grandpa of Magnum, has a cool life atti-

It’s true, it’s proof that the industry has

working with and want to work again, in

tude. Fashion ends up circling around

changed, the world has changed, it’s no

a structure that can embrace this concept.

itself. The best thing is when you are able to open up and cross the universe.

longer a matter of “oh, Brazil is falling behind”. It is a time of change. So, there’s

In line with having so many interests,

no use in saying: “Oh, in the old days it

who inspired you and who inspires

In the past, who did you look up to?

was so nice”. Suzy Menkes has to do a

you today?

I’ve always liked Diana Vreeland, I felt

different job of what she did at the

I love art. When I travel, I feel more inspired

inspired by her. I like reading biographies

Tribune. I am curious to know what Cathy

by an exhibition than by an outfit or a

and I’ve been going back to old passions,

Horn will do at The Cut. But look at where

store. I like gallery Deitch (NY), Fortes

like Glauber Rocha, New Cinema, Hélio

she is going to, The Cut [New York Maga-

Vilaça (SP). Gallery Zipper (SP) has been

Oticica. I just read Glauber Rocha’s biog-

zine’s fashion website, for which the edi-

doing some nice work; Leme (SP), Mendes

raphy [A Primavera do Dragão, by Nelson

tor covered the Winter 2015/16 interna-

Wood (SP), and Whitechapel (London) as

Motta]. There is this creative drive, this

tional fashion week]. She is a woman of

well. Deitch’s 15th anniversary book, which

will to change the world that I still have

personality in what she says, does,

is there [she points to a chair across the

and I’d like to keep. I look up to people

wears, in the way she carries herself. Her

room], is very beautiful. I follow art on In-

who are changing or who want to

blog [On the Runway] was really cool, it

stagram and online. There are so many

change the world. That is why the way

had consistence. Even Vanessa Fried-

people I like, James Turrel, Jeff Koons, who

fashion takes everything for granted

man, who took her place at the NYT, is

is more pop, Tracey Emin, Richard Prince…

bothers me a little.

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fashion

erika palomino

“She goes, puts five outfits together, calls a professional photographer who shoots her while she’s pretending to cross the street, she publishes it, and everyone says: ‘Oh, that is beautiful, so and so!’. It is so puerile, childish, adolescent” speaking about Márcia Pantera, and I was told: “Jesus, Márcia Pantera is such a powerful drag that she has an exclusive designer”. “Wow, that is amazing, but who is her designer?”, I asked. It was Alexandre Herchcovitch. After a while, I went for a spin and I found a vinyl corset in a thrift store. “Wow! That is beautiful”. I looked and there was his label. Then it hit me.

I was home when my phone rang. It was him, saying: “Hi, this is Alexandre, the person you mentioned, who makes Márcia Pantera’s outfits”. We set up a meeting, I went to his house, it was his parents’ house, and I saw that whole universe ready: the living room transformed into an atelier, sewing machine, eyelets, zippers, Isabella Tuchband’s painting with a photo of Erika at 15, made for SPFW Summer 2004

the whole deal. The television on the corner and a mannequin dressed in black, like

You discovered Herchcovitch in a time

Something else that I think is more dra-

Morticia, sort of gothic. The skull collection,

when there weren’t press offices, Insta-

matic than the own situation of fashion

fetishes boots, that beautiful, intelligent

gram, Facebook. Do you think it is possible

journalism is the exceeding number of

kid, with that discourse. We had identified

to discover a Herchcovitch today?

events, of store openings, networking

instantly, and I felt he had talent, especially

Only if there is an investment of time.

lunches that you have to attend, coffee

because he had learned the technic from

Editorial rooms work pushing the refresh

meetings. It is different from walking

his mother, he already made things that

button to check if a new e-mail has come in.

around, going for a spin and discovering

worked. It is something that pulsates, that

I think there is a great error in press release

something new. Is that the way you’re go-

burns in your hand. And it was a time when

journalism. I read press releases, pay at-

ing to discover something new? Maybe

fashion shows took place in night clubs,

tention to them, but your story isn’t neces-

yes, maybe not. But in the same way I’m

not runways. I saw his famous graduation

sarily going to come out from your inbox.

going, so is my competition. It’s impossible

show. I’m really proud of everything Alexandre

People who employ journalists want to see

to go to all of these events. That is killing

has conquered, how he conducted his ca-

the journalist in the newsroom. If the per-

fashion journalism, because journalists

reer, he was brilliant, exemplary.

son is not sitting there, it looks like they are

need to work!

As in fashion communication, the timing

not working. A journalist’s place is on the streets. I don’t want to look at the person,

You met Herchcovitch in the night, outside

of fashion creation is another. With that

if I don’t trust them enough to think they

the fashion context. How did you connect?

need for speedy collections, is there room

might not be working, it’s because they’re

At the time, I was working at Folha de S.Paulo

for creation and innovation?

not good enough to work with me. I want

and I was, as I am until now, fighting for

It is possible to make nice things at each

people going to parties, to places I don’t

my place in the industry, and I have always

moment. Can you revolutionize the

go, where I am not. I believe in a kind of

been competitive. I wasn’t known; I just

world each season? No. Each cruise col-

information that flows, that someone

wanted to work, because I’m hungry. I’d

lection? No. Each pre-collection? No.

comes to me and says: “Oh my god, you’re

already write some articles about the

But you can build a story within it. The

not going to believe this, I saw a movie this

night life and I began to write about fash-

price to pay is very high, very toilsome;

week x, y, z”. Then it can spark an interest

ion because I liked it, there was no one else

the demands are extreme, internally

in me, watch the movie or retain that in-

doing it, because Lilian [Pacce] lived

and externally, and we have all those

formation and turn it into something else.

abroad, there was an opening, I kept going

examples around, in Brazil and in the

Nowadays, we don’t have that time.

and specializing. I remember I first started

world. Making fashion is difficult.

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Conversation

“I am obsessed with innovation. It seduces me in any environment.

And I think that is why I like fashion so much: it is the exercise of seeking what is new where there is nowhere to come from” Today, to whom would you give the space

I became interested in electronic music:

from Higienópolis to Paulista because I like

you gave Herchcovitch?

first came house, then techno, frontiers

to be invisible, diluted, I don’t appreciate

I am enjoying the work of Vitorino Campos,

were being explored all the time. That is

the feeling of being watched.

I think he has a cleanness, a thoroughness,

why like technology, because at each mo-

an attention. Despite the fact he doesn’t

ment a new app comes up, funnier and

But there was a time when you were

have the iconoclastic trace I admire in

easier to communicate, new programs,

watched closely.

Alexandre, he destroys what he does in

new everything. When I chose to quit

Come on, you were saying: “People criti-

each collection, like Prada does, and

Folha, people would say: “You are crazy to

cized you at House”. I have always been

makes it again. I love that process, I identify

leave that job. You’ve been there for 17

criticized, always. Because there’s no way

with it. And I love Walério Araújo, for what

years, in a company like that”. Guys, I’ve

I can go unnoticed. Whatever move I make,

he does, delivers, for the universe he has.

come full circle, I’ve done everything

I shake things up.

When you look at his clothes, they are not

I wanted to do, I have nowhere to grow,

—

only clothes, a universe is there. I also like

horizontally or vertically. I felt I needed to

INSTAGRAM @erikapalomino

the work of Pedro Lourenço, I believe he

do something else; I didn’t want to be-

has enormous potential, great technic,

come furniture. I rather have people miss

diligence, he is very talented.

me that being a pain in the butt.

For a long time you were the most influ-

You suffered severe criticism when you

ential person in fashion in Brazil. Do you

put the website together, House of

miss giving your opinion?

Palomino, and made partnerships with

I don’t miss anything, I’m not nostalgic.

great brands. Ironically, this is what

People say: “Oh, man, I miss your column,

people do today.

it was so cool, right?”. Yes. “Wow, your

I find it ironic, but in a good way. I see other

website was fantastic, so amazing, wasn’t

similar projects; it was a bit like what we

it?” Yes. “Key, what you did was so incredi-

did back then. The House, in fact, was the

ble!” Yes, it was incredible. “That party in

background of a program like a reality

Rio, that time, was super!” Yes, it was su-

show that would mix what was going on

per. Sometimes they ask me: “But why

behind the news with the final result [news

don’t you put the website back online?”

itself]. The time it took me to put every-

Guys, times are different. “Why don’t you

thing together, YouTube came along, and

do the podcast again?” Things have a cy-

I said: “That’s it, the show is over”. I also

cle, they exist in the moment. It’s no use

had the website, the magazine, everything

doing the things I did before, because the

was very forward. People would show up

Project of House of Palomino, it was so, but

and when we realized, they were already

so modern, that it was ahead of its time.

working with us. And there were the deadlines for Key magazine, it was all very nihilis-

Being ahead of time is an avant-garde

tic, cannibalistic, and special, there was a

characteristic. In your opinion, what is

lot of energy and creativity going around.

the price you pay for that?

The bond we created was super strong.

The price is having the obligation of doing

I think it was important, but I don’t dwell

things never done before. I am obsessed

on it. I also don’t know if I will resume that

with innovation. It seduces me in any envi-

project. Each thing has its own time.

ronment. And I think that is why I like fashion

Another day someone came up to me and

so much: it is the exercise of seeking what

said: “Come on, Erika, come back!”. Come

is new where there is nowhere to come

back to where, from where? I don’t know,

from. I am interested in what’s new in

I don’t join this ego trip, I don’t have a lot

architecture, and that is why I like art, why

of vanity, I want to be normal. I moved

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EDUARDO POMBAL

Eduardo Pombal FFWMAG 39

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studio

Natural light, scissors, pens, toy art, crystals, and a miniature of Karl Lagerfeld make up the work space of Tufi Duek’s designer.

By Marcela Duarte :: Photo Hick Duarte

W

hen Tufi Duek and Forum split, between 2009 and

toy store. From the (many) scissors and Muji pens bought in trips

2010, Eduardo Pombal and team moved to a space

to gift from friends, every object is elevated to the status of rarity

previously used as a lab to develop print boards. Upon

in his hands.

entering the room, the designer was intrigued by what was behind

It’s no wonder that toy art and objects that can become table

large boards in the back of the room and called the building’s

ornaments seem to be Eduardo’s friends first pick when it’s time

maintenance team. When he discovered there were windows, he

to give him a gift. From the miniature of Karl Lagerfeld to a

didn’t hesitate; he ordered the boards to be removed.

mannequin and a vase filled with origami, they all have a name

Arriving in the room where Tufi Duek’s style team works, what

behind them: “This was given to me by João”; “this was brought

most catches the eye (especially for someone who suffers from

by Lídia”; “that one is from Emerson”. Eduardo says he is not into

migraines and a certain degree of photophobia) is the brightness,

superstition, but he does everything to bring luck, from washing

even if a white curtain provides an obstacle. “The sun was killing

crystals with sea salt to leaving chili next to the window.

me”, says Eduardo, explaining why he was forced to turn to the

Some of the crystals are among the few objects that were bought by

translucent fabric. He accepted it would be impossible to remain

him, and Eduardo swears it wasn’t on account of superstition. “I got the

without drapes, but he never gave up on knowing if it’s day or

white one when I was doing research for a collection. Later I went to

night outside, if it rains or not.

Goiânia and I bought the others. The black one was given to me by a friend

The natural light is what lends charm to the material that lies

for luck.” To prove that he is not too into esotericism, he says that one day

on top of Eduardo’s desk – and so much material! For those who

he came to work and one of the crystals was broken. “Some would say it

love what’s new in stationary, it is hard not to feel like a kid in a

was the energy, but I rather believe it fell and broke during cleaning.”

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EDUARDO POMBAL

“Objects are not disposable, but they have a life span. Today, I may design an article that I think is the most beautiful in the world, but in a while it won’t be the most beautiful anymore.”

— eduardo pombal

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studio

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EDUARDO POMBAL

Fond of design objects, he is very careful with his things, but he doesn’t let it become an obsession. Proof of that is that his team

If this is where 80% of the work is done, where does the other 20% take place?

has free access to his things – as long as they return them. When

Eduardo has a second work space, a sort of hiding place

he noticed Karl Lagerfeld’s miniature was suddenly broken, he

where he finds silence. Tufi Duek’s old showroom, a few meters

didn’t try to find the culprit nor fix it. “Objects are not disposable,

from his official desk, is the secret place he retires to avoid being

but they have a life span. Today, I may design an article that I

interrupted. “During the season, I take a few things there. When

think is the most beautiful in the world, but in a while it won’t be

I need to define a collection, I go there and lay everything on the

the most beautiful anymore.”

floor. Then I move things around and start putting it together.

In the studio, everything is meticulously arranged, as if each

There isn’t the interference of noise, phone’s ringing.”

object were so sacred that it had a predetermined place. But

In this space there is only white walls, a large mirror, a desk

Eduardo guarantees it isn’t quite like this. “I am a faux-organized.

and, to avoid taking chances precisely at the defining moment of

I like it to look organized, but if you open a draw you’ll see

a collection, a pot of sea salt behind the door.

everything is a mess. But I know where each thing is; I stick my hand in there and pull what I need.” To prove his point, all he had

—

to do was open a draw: more notebooks, clips and pens sharing

INSTAGRAM @eduardopombal

the space with exhibition catalogs and reference material for collections, like earrings and rings. “This room is where 80% of the work gets done. This is where we create, develop the collection, take things from the draw, closets, where I search for materials, references. All of the sudden, I’m digging, I find something and I think: ‘I wonder if we could wear this element, this accessory’.”

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n Paris, in a 17th century building, lives one expertise, literally, secular. It was in 1853, during Napoleon III’s empire, when Gérard Lognon’s atelier began to pleat the dresses of French aristocracy and had 60 artisans specialized in the technic that involves more than 2 thousand molds of different types, including the one used in Dior’s Summer 2015 haute-couture show. Today, the time consuming and thorough process of the atelier – acquired

by Chanel in the 2000s – is executed by less than a dozen people, a small army of resistance against the hyper velocity of contemporary fashion production. Is it worth the wait?

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