Cláudia Abreu*
claudia.marques@anba.com.br
São Paulo – Fashion and tourism. What do they have in common? Many things, according to the Ministry of Tourism and the Brazilian Clothing Designers Association (Abest). Since 2005, the Ministry of Tourism has been working in partnership with the Abest to promote Brazilian tourist destinations locally and abroad. Around 1.8 million Brazilian reais (US$ 890,000) have been invested in program "Travelling around Brazil is fashion", which took some of the main stylists in the country to photograph their collections in places like Ilha do Mel, in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, Lençóis Maranhenses, in Maranhão (NE), and the city of Maragogi, in Alagoas (NE). The sceneries are in the catalogues of brands like Huis Clos, Rosa Chá and Alexandre Herchcovitch.
According to Cristina Malheiros, coordinator of production associated to tourism at the Ministry, the program was established with the objective of promoting Brazilian fashion and national tourism through the produce of stylists. The participants were granted the right to create clothes using the references obtained in the localities chosen or simply to use the site to photograph their collections for the catalogues.
"It was an important exchange of information for the stylists who could explore new places and new products in their collections. Herchcovitch, for example, apart from using the destination as a location, used banana tree fibre, traditional in the handicraft of Maragogi, in accessories like handbags and hats," he said.
The project began in December 2005 and should end next June. The Ministry does not yet know if the partnership will be renewed. "The results, in figures, are not yet consolidated, but the spontaneous media return was very good. We also reached a very qualified public," explained Cristina. Another advantage of the project, pointed out by Christina, is the appreciation of the destination through the stylists eyes. "Although they are tourists destinations and are known to the public, they gain new colours when observed by fashion professionals. It is a more creative point of view," she said.
Exterior
According to Clarissa Guimarães, from the Abest, the partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and Abest ended up also promoting Brazilian destinations internationally, as many of the professionals involved released their catalogues in both editions of the main fashion event in the country, São Paulo Fashion Week (SPFW), which takes place in the months of January and July, and counts on the presence of buyers from the whole world. The catalogues were also promoted in fashion fairs abroad.
To Lino Villaventura, the work was wonderful. The stylist chose Canoa Quebrada beach to photograph the items of his 2007 winter collection, presented to the public in January this year. "It was incredible, giving the products another outlook, it is an incentive for people to view Brazil as a great, immense and wonderful source of inspiration," he said.
Apart from Villaventura, another seven brands photographed their winter collections in tourist points in Brazil. Herchcovitch – apart from using Maragogi for photographing his female collections – used Gramado (in southern Brazil) to photograph the items and accessories in the masculine collection. Clô Orozco used the beauty and freshness of Ilha do Mel, Carlos Miele also opted for the southern region of Brazil, but chose Florianópolis, the capital of the state of Santa Catarina.
Brands Mara Mac, Maria Bonita and VRom also travelled to photograph their catalogues. They went, respectively, to Chapada dos Veadeiros, in the midwestern state of Goiás, Brasília (MW), and Belém, in the northern state of Pará. Oscar Metsavaht, of brand Osklen, from Rio de Janeiro, preferred local sights; he photographed his collection, which has the colours of the Amazon, in Rio.
According to Clô Orozco, the work permits showing Brazil, and what the country has, to a public that is interested in beauty. "We have a variety of options of nature, of places, of charm of people who, certainly, enchant those who see them. Uniting these is a good way of presenting Brazil," stated the stylist.
In the previous edition, summer 2007, which was presented to the public in July last year, 10 brands participated in "Travelling around Brazil is fashion", among them Rosa Chá, by Amir Slama, which photographed in Lençóis Maranhenses, Walter Rodrigues, in Olinda and Recife (both in the NE), Glória Coelho, in São Paulo (SE), and Teresa Santos, in Belo Horizonte (SE).
Making of
During the photography sessions in the tourist destinations, "making of" videos were shot and the stylists involved gave interviews commenting on their collections and on the site chosen for the photo shoots. The video, a species of documentary, is still in its production phase, but will also be used for the promotion of tourism and fashion. The idea is to show the documentaries in movie theatres, on airport televisions, during national and international fairs and also in the brand shops.
*Translated by Mark Ament
