By Anna Kaiser, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The famous Carioca beach style has met high fashion again on the runways this week (April 15-19th) at the Cidade Maravilhosa’s fashion showcase known as Fashion Rio. The event, located this year at the Marina da Glória, is Brazil’s second largest fashion event and features 26 designers.
Showcasing designs for summer 2014, designers played with strong colors and heavy accessories. Goddess skirts with lots of volume and flow, Brazilian flora and fauna inspired prints tied with funky colored sunglasses and tribal inspired necklaces were among popular trends adorning the models.
“Where else in the world can you follow high-fashion with a backdrop fit for a postcard, with the Sugar Loaf and the Christ Redeemer in the background?” blogged fashion journalist Rosângela Espinossi.
Highlights so far have included Ipanema-based designer, Alessa, who showed off classic Carioca style, drawing inspiration from Brazil’s natural beauty with bold colored, flowing animal prints.
The designer duo, Thomaz and Sharon Azulay, known a Blue Man said their inspiration was “The empire of tropical Brazil” – therefore exhibiting elements of imperial, colonial Portuguese design with wild, tropical prints that represent Brazil’s exotic landscape. “It is the tropical paradise that received the empire,” explained Thomaz, “we took the aesthetic of that time and worked with it in more fun ways!”
Designers at TNB caught audience’s attention with three celebrity models – actors from the hit soap opera Salve Jorge. Domingos Montagner, Roberta Rodrigues, and Cléo Pires walked side-by-side down the runway in the designers rock-n-roll inspired collection. Silver, gold, studs, and tailored jackets in the collection were inspired by winter collections showcased in The United States and Europe.
Popular makeup trends in the show were bronzed, dewy skin, with light eye makeup. The show from Oh! Boy was selected as Fashion news website, FFW’s favorite make-up from the event so far. Makeup artist Max Weber said he tried to lighten up the models skin with subtle shades of gold and used sparkly illuminating eye shadows and curled eyelashes to finish the look.
“What a shame we have to wait so long to wear these styles!” exclaimed FFW, jokingly complaining about the fashion worlds tradition of showcasing styles about nine months before they hit stores.
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