International press and buyers attend Fashion Rio

The 24th edition of Fashion Rio, featuring trends for F/W 2014 at Pier Maua from November 6 to 9, was attended by 17 international journalists invited by Texbrasil (Brazilian Fashion Industry Internationalization Program, developed by Abit in partnership with Apex-Brasil). The Program also coordinated participation of 23 foreign buyers, from countries such as the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates and Japan, in the Salao Bossa Nova trade show, a parallel event held in the same location. “Italy’s Silvano Vangi attended, representing the Luisa Via Roma e-commerce channel. He visited Rio de Janeiro after scheduled visits to showrooms in Sao Paulo,” explains the Program’s CEO, Rafael Cervone.

Yoshiharu Satoh, a representative from Japan’s Fruits de Mer company, was celebrating partnerships with Brazilian brands and highlighting the potential of Brazilian fashion in Japanese retail: “being able to look to Brazil in a different light makes us feel as if we were at home. Brazilian labels are better and better, with major potential in the Japanese market. I did some good business during the trade show and I hope that this partnership with Brazil lasts for a long time,” he says.

For the press, one of the highlights was the special coverage by the crew from the Now Fashion website, which broadcast the fashion shows live using streaming. One of the publication’s team members, French journalist Valerio Nappi, praised the event for also having a commercial side: “the relationship between fashion and business created by the organization is really good. It’s important to talk about and show fashion trends; yet, it is also fundamental to foster business, since buying and selling is what drives and helps to maintain the industry,” says Nappi.

The group also included attendance by the Director of French TV show La Mode, La Mode, Emmanuel Le Ber, who is working on a special documentary about Rio de Janeiro fashion. The group also includes reporters from Vogue magazine and the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper (Italy); from the WGSN trend bureau and The Guardian newspaper (England); from Rolling Stones magazine (United Arab Emirates); La Nación newspaper (Argentina); and Reforma and El Universal newspapers and L’Officiel magazine (Mexico).

Program member brands took different tacks when showing their collections during Rio de Janeiro fashion week. Designer Alessa created looks using neutral colors and baggy cuts in neoprene. Inspiration came from the architecture of Paulo Mendes da Rocha. While Victor Dzenk, of Minas Gerais, used abundant colors and art deco style on the runways of Fashion Rio, with Andrea Marques continuing her minimalist style aimed at elegant and original women.