These Indigenous Designers Held Brazil’s First All-Indigenous Fashion Show And It Looks Stunning
Designers used unique elements found in nature to demonstrate their cultural background – the spearlike teeth of the peccary (An Amazonian boar), the red guarana fruit, acai seeds and coconut shells – and to represent each of their tribes.
Indigenous designers staged Brazil’s first all-Indigenous fashion show as a way to overcome stereotypes and fight for their rights and the pictures are stunning.
The show was part of a month-long exhibition organized by the Superior School of Arts and Tourism of the State University of Amazonas in April 2022.
Held at the Rio Negro Palace, a cultural center in Manaus, the capital and largest city of Amazonas, the event showcased the creations of 29 Indigenous designers and included 37 models, representing 15 Indigenous groups of Brazil.
Designers used unique elements found in nature to demonstrate their cultural background – the spearlike teeth of the peccary (An Amazonian boar), the red guarana fruit, acai seeds and coconut shells – and to represent each of their tribes.
“We are very eager to show our talent, in sewing, in crafts. To show the world that Indigenous people can also succeed in fashion,” 19-year-old model Moan Munduruku told AFP.
The event organizers hoped to share Indigenous culture to everyone, especially following far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro’s term.
During that time, his office cracked down on Indigenous rights in Brazil, led deforestation of the Amazon to hit a 15-year high, as well as surging invasions of Indigenous lands and violence against Indigenous people.
“It’s a form of resistance, a way to overcome stereotypes,” event organizer Reby Ferreira told AFP.
Brazil’s newly elected president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – also known as Lula – has prioritized the well-being of the country’s Indigenous peoples, appointing an Indigenous woman as the country’s first-ever minister for Indigenous peoples, Sônia Guajajara.
