Brazilian fashion and innovation spotlighted at LFW
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The ‘Brazil: Creating Fashion For Tomorrow’ opened London Fashion Week this season with an exhibition spotlighting the pivotal role of Brazilian women in the fashion industry, featuring brands including Farm Rio, PatBo, and Catarina Mina, as well as innovative solutions that address the challenges of the climate emergency.
The ‘Chain of Women’ exhibition, held at the Brazilian embassy, was curated by Camila Villas, Lilian Pacce, and Marilia Biasi to illuminate issues about women in fashion and the broader economy while celebrating Brazil’s groundbreaking contributions to sustainable fashion, with a focus on craftsmanship, innovation, and social responsibility.
Highlights include Farm Rio showcasing a Rauti beaded maxi dress crafted from Lenzing Ecovero viscose fibres and adorned with more than 10 metres of meticulously beaded fringes, handcrafted by Yawanawa women. The exquisite craftsmanship took over 20 days to complete and weighs nearly 5kg to spotlight Indigenous artistry and modern design.
The dress was crafted as a homage to Yawanawa culture, drawing inspiration from its traditional jewellery, alongside a print that honours the community’s profound connection to nature and their vibrant cultural heritage, incorporating symbolic elements such as snakes and butterflies.
Katia Barros, co-founder and creative director of Farm Rio, said in a statement: “We celebrate our long-lasting partnership with the Yawanawa women. Meeting these female leaders, artists, and guardians of the forest has forever transformed our relationship with nature and our feminine essence. Moved by this intention of mutual care, more and more, we connect with those who speak for their land as a place of healing, respect, and love.”
Farm Rio has been partnering with the Yawanawa Sociocultural Association, an indigenous community from Rio Gregório, Acre, Brazil, for seven years.
Farm Rio, Lenny Niemeyer and Flavia Aranha spotlight contributions from Indigenous communities of Brazil
Other highlights included a two-piece denim suit embroidered by Patricia Bonaldi for PatBo, which was part of the brand’s spring/summer 2024 show at NYFW, spotlighting the handmade embroidery craftsmanship of Brazil, while Catarina Mina, known for its crochet bags, showcased a Mandacaru dress by Celina Hissa to celebrate its partnership with communities in Ceará.
Brazilian designer Lenny Niemeyer shared a Buriti dress made in partnership with artisans from the Barreirinhas Craftswomen's Association, in the state of Maranhão. Marina Bitu showcased a dress made from the ‘fluffy’ straw of the banana tree stem inspired by the ancestral technique of fuxico, which originated in Africa and is popular in the Northeast of Brazil.
Dayana Molina’s Nalimo continued to place a spotlight on indigenous representation in Brazil with a Ciranda ancestral dress made in collaboration with independent artisans from the state of Pernambuco and Ceará, while Flavia Aranha’s vest and trousers celebrated the brand’s partnership with Central Veredas, in the north-west of Minas Gerais, impacting over 300 women, highlighting the traditional weaving technique preserved by the women of the region.
Malwee unveils innovative technology focused on decarbonisation for the global textile market
Material sustainability and innovation in Brazil were also displayed with Santa Catarina-based Malwee, which makes comfortable, practical and versatile clothing, displaying pieces crafted from Fio do Futuro (Thread of the Future), a material first launched in 2022 made up of 85 percent different types of fibres from used and shredded clothes, that are collected in partnership with the Red Cross. For the BCFT exhibition, Malwee collaborated with women from the Elas Fazem Nós collective, part of the Malwee Institute's Menos Resíduo, Mais Renda (Less Waste, More Income) programme, to give new meaning to textile waste, while showcasing macrame and crochet handcraft techniques.
Malwee also announced the launch of the ‘Ar.voree’ T-shirt, made with the first Brazilian fabric capable of capturing CO2 from the environment and eliminating it during the washing process. This new decarbonisation technology is a result of a partnership with Singapore-based start-up Xinterra, which has developed the application of COzTERRA technology for the textile market.
The solution allows a T-shirt to capture 12g of CO2 from the atmosphere, meaning that 25 T-shirts, in one day, would capture the same amount of carbon dioxide that a full-grown tree captures daily.
Gabriela Rizzo, chief executive of the Malwee Group, said: "In 2019, Malwee Group became the first Brazilian fashion brand to sign the commitment to the global campaign Business Ambition for 1.5°C: Our Only Future, launched by the United Nations (UN). This initiative aims to mobilise large companies to limit the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and achieve the goal of zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions before 2050.
“Therefore, the decarbonisation technology we are launching is an important front to make this commitment tangible. We have already reduced total greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent and now we are launching a T-shirt that captures CO2 from the atmosphere. In other words, our fabric transforms the textile product into an ally in the fight against climate change.”