Dragão Fashion celebrates 20 years, welcoming international media invited by Texbrasil

From May 15 to 18, a group of three international journalists arrived in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, to cover the DFB Festival fashion and business event, aka Dragão Fashion, which was held on Iracema Beach this year. The group attended the event at the invitation of Texbrasil (Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program) – carried out through a partnership between Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) and Abit (Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association). The international journalist group included fashion columnist Ariadne Grant, with El Heraldo of Mexico; Pilar Luna, with Colombia’s Código Malta website; and Paula Labonia, of Parati magazine, on Infobae, an Argentine portal.

In addition to attending the event’s fashion shows, the journalists also took part in other activities in Fortaleza, visiting Program company factories and stores, such as Vicunha, Cholet and Bikiny Society.

According to Lilian Kaddissi, Executive Manager at Texbrasil, the DFB Festival is the perfect time to show the international press all of Brazil’s original fashion. “The event brings together a huge range of fashion shows, all very authentic. And this is our competitive edge abroad: our Brazilian-ness,” she explains. And she adds that “this is why we have supported press visits to Dragão for so long; we want to show the world our Dragão.”

This is the 20^th edition of the event for original Ceará fashion, which now also celebrates Brazilian culture, cuisine and entrepreneurship. The lineup features brands like Marju, Água de Coco, and Flee and designers who have shown at the event many times before, such as David Lee, Jeferson Ribeiro and Lindenberg Fernandes.

Another attraction is the New Designer Contest, joining fashion students from across the country in a race to the R$ 10,000 prize, with teams participating in the competition from schools in Ceará, Pará, Paraná, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The event will have a total of 36 fashion shows, among students, designers making their debut, brands and established fashion houses.

The DFB will also have 20 shows, four dance troupe presentations, photography exhibits, a creative economy fair with 60 exhibitors, four workshops and eight talks, in addition to 14 restaurants in the eatery. The entire event will cover an area of 27,000 m².

Notable among the exhibits is a recreation of the designer David Lee’s show during London Fashion Week earlier this year, which he was invited to put on by the British Fashion Council. Another interesting installation is a seaside space with hammocks. This area has 36 hammocks made by the Santa Luzia company, a Texbrasil member that makes items using organic colored cotton from Paraíba. Santa Luzia’s hammocks hold the World Craft Council (UNESCO) Award of Excellence for Handicrafts and are free for the public to use.

See the official fashion show lineup for the 2019 DFB Festival. All times PM:

Wednesday• (15)

5:30 – Press Conference

7:00 • Rm. 1 – Chico Marinho + Caio Nascimento

7:30 • Rm. 2 – Almerinda Maria

8:00 • Rm. 1 – Homem do Sapato

8:30 • Rm. 2 – Gisela Franck

9:00 • Rm. 1 – FIEC presents Água de Coco

Thursday • 16

5:30 • DFBeach Club – Senac/RJ presents ESC

6:30 • Rm. 2 – Vitor Cunha + Saldanha

7:00 • Rm. 1 – Senac/CE presents Cariri Visceral + Bruno Olly

7:30 • Rm. 2 – Sinditêxtil presents Jangadeiro Têxtil

8:00 • Rm. 1 – David Lee

8:30 • Rm. 2 – Rendá por Camila Arraes

9:00 • Rm. 1 – Wagner Kallieno

Friday • 17

5:30 • DFBeach Club – Senac/RJ presents Marju

6:30 • Rm. 2 – Concurso dos Novos (Ateneu, Fanor, Sta. Marcelina, UNAMA)

7:00 • Rm. 1 – Jeferson Ribeiro

7:30 • Rm. 2 – SindiRoupas presents Matias

8:00 • Rm. 1 – Melk Z-Da

8:30 • Rm. 2 – Sebrae presents Rota Jeri + Lindebergue Fernandes

9:00 • Rm. 1 – Kallil Nepomuceno

Saturday • 18 

5:30 • DFBeach Club – Parko

6:30 • Rm. 2 – Concurso dos Novos (Unifor, UTFPR, UFPI, Veiga de Almeida)

7:00 • Rm. 1 – Baba

7:30 • Rm. 2 – D’Aura

8:00 • Rm. 1 – Ronaldo Silvestre

8:30 • Rm. 2 – Flee

9:00 • Rm. 1 – Silvânia de Deus

About Texbrasil

The Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program (Texbrasil) works with textile and apparel industry companies to develop strategies for success in the global market. Over nearly 20 years, it has helped around 1500 brands to enter the export market, bringing in USD 3.6 billion in business. The Program is conducted by Abit in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).