INTERNATIONAL MEDIA INVITED BY TEXBRASIL IMPRESSED BY DRAGAO FASHION

From May 9 to 12, Fortaleza hosted the multicultural Dragao Fashion festival. Four international journalists attending the event at the invitation of Texbrasil (Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program) – the result of a partnership between Abit (Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association) and Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) – carried out creative and varied coverage of the fashion, music and creative economy event.

The group included Anna Ross (United Kingdom), from the WGSN trend portal; Gustavo Di Mario (Argentina), of Vogue Italy and L’Officiel Argentina; Natalia Jinchuk (Uruguay), with fashion website Mirada Couture; and Carolina Guimaraes (Portugal), with the Portal de Moda and Jornal Textil magazine.

According to Anna, one of the event’s best features is its personality and strong line-up, filled with original fashion shows by designers from across the country. “This is my second time covering Dragao Fashion and I am more surprised each year with how the festival is able to innovatively impress the Brazilian brand on every aspect. The designers are unique and there is always a regional touch in their creations,” she says. The Brit even served as a judge in the Concurso dos Novos (New Designer Contest), a competition for talent at the event, which featured fashion shows by students from prestigious educational institutions in Brazil. The Senac Sergipe students took home the grand prize.

Diversity

This year’s theme was diversity, which served as a direct source of inspiration for the show put on by one of the stars of the fashion show program:  Lindebergue Fernandes. A constant presence in the line-up, the designer delivered a real party with his “Self-Love” collection, which referred not to clothing, but to people. Walking the runway were trans models, drag queens, short men and overweight women.

The international media was impressed by the Ceara designer’s show. Natalia Jinchuk, of Uruguay’s Mirada Couture fashion website, said that it is rare to see shows like Lindebergue’s on the international fashion circuit. Beachwear brand Bikiny Society was another name that caught the journalists’ attention, including Gustavo Dimario of Argentina – who did backstage shots for most of the shows. “Beachwear is definitely one of Brazil’s strengths and the brand did a very lovely job with the show,” he stated.

The coverage continued beyond the runways. Because the Dragao Fashion festival is open to the public, with shows by Karol Conka and Iza, for example, the street style of the people attending the shows, fashion shows and talks also created buzz: “I was impressed with the personalities in Fortaleza. Brazilian fashion is definitively for every taste. That is why we did street style coverage for the site and it was fantastic,” says Natalia.

Beyond Dragao

The journalists also visited Texbrasil companies, such as the Delfa intimate wear cup manufacturing plant. This rich experience showed the international media the Brazilian technology and innovation used to produce industry supplies. Carolina was surprised by the experience: “It’s so great to get in touch with this side of Brazil’s industry. They are developing modern and value-added products, which is quite impressive.”

The media also checked out the sustainability of denim maker Vicunha, collections by apparel brands Cholet and Penna, and more.

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 more than 15 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).