By Shalina Chatlani, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Vidigal’s Casa Geração, a fashion school and NGO (non-profit organization) that provides young Cariocas from the favela community and surrounding area a unique opportunity to take practical and theoretical classes on the Fashion market in Brazil and abroad, will be holding a runway show on December 6th to show off the students’ designs.
This year, the show will highlight the work of twenty talented students in seven collections, which are sponsored by some of the greatest names of Brazilian fashion, such as Yassini Saide (Puma), Dudu Bertholini, Lenny Niemeyer, Andrea Marques, Chiara Gadaleta, Robert Forrest, Fernando Cozendey, among others.
Casa Geração, which provides free tuition for students from the favela communities and operates on little money, is asking for donations through a crowdfunding campaign in order to finance the show, as well as provide funds that will help participants move forward in their career.
The donation will be used to produce the pilot pieces of clothes, create the show itself, and develop catalogues to promote the collections. Casa Geração also promises great counterparts to thank each one of the contributors. The campaign began on October 25th and will last about two more weeks, ending at midnight on November 26th. As of now the school is at about fifty percent of its funding goal.
Modafusion, an association founded nearly nine years ago by French journalists Nadine Gonzalez and Andrea Fasanello, created Casa Geração in July 2013. With the pacification of the favela community, they were able to erect the school in Vidigal. The first class graduated in November 2013 and showed their work at Fashion Rio week.
In order to provide free lessons, the school sells shirts and collections created by students, holds paid workshops, receives financial support from Tudo Bem, an association of French universities, as well as a company called Santa Constancia. Casa Geração also does crowdfunding and has a partnership with the tourist agency Merci Rio.
The link to donate to the campaign, in addition to more information on Casa Geração can be found here.