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Sultry styles hit the catwalk in Sau Paulo where fashion week just started – but, backstage, not everyone is impressed.
Designers are whining about cheaper and better-made Chinese textiles, below-par training for fashion students, insufficient numbers of skilled employees, high taxes and a competitive deluge of wannabe designers were all weighing down the sector.
Quite a hefty list of complaints, isn't it?
But the city is still putting on a brave face as it buffers its reputation as one of the most glamorous and prosperous emerging economies in the world.
Brazil's most famous export, Gisele Bundchen won't be there. But Ashton Kutcher is sure to be hogging lenses. The 33-year-old American former-model-turned-actor will play clothes-horse before taking up the starring role in Two and a Half Men, replacing Charlie Sheen.
Vying with global fashion capitals
Despite its 15-year history, Brazil continues to lag behind fashion giants like Paris, Milan, London and New York. The fact is, the city isn't being taken seriously as a global fashion player.
"Textile engineering has to progress in Brazil. To be more competitive, we need better material and technology in this country," one of the designers taking part, Reinaldo Lourenco said.
Stylist Lorenzo Merlino said: "We're not even close to China, which is selling products with sophisticated fabrics at laughable prices. We're not going to have factories like that any time soon."
Designer Alexandre Herchcovitch bemoaned to the newspaper that "everybody wants to be a stylist, and there's not enough room for so many people."
He also stressed a common refrain that "we have poor qualifications in sewing and design."
Is everyone feeling blue?
While well-heeled, wealthy Brazilians are turning to elite European and US labels for clothes, the country's burgeoning middle class is helping local fashion houses enjoy a consumer boom.
"Twenty or thirty years ago when we talked about fashion, it was without a doubt craziness to think we would be here today," said organizer of SPFW, Paulo Borges. "We always knew it would take a long time."
There is hope yet for Brazil to become a darling for investors everywhere.
Do you think Brazil could become a fashion powerhouse like Paris or New York? Are you familiar with any designers from the country?
Designers are whining about cheaper and better-made Chinese textiles, below-par training for fashion students, insufficient numbers of skilled employees, high taxes and a competitive deluge of wannabe designers were all weighing down the sector.
Quite a hefty list of complaints, isn't it?
But the city is still putting on a brave face as it buffers its reputation as one of the most glamorous and prosperous emerging economies in the world.
Brazil's most famous export, Gisele Bundchen won't be there. But Ashton Kutcher is sure to be hogging lenses. The 33-year-old American former-model-turned-actor will play clothes-horse before taking up the starring role in Two and a Half Men, replacing Charlie Sheen.
Vying with global fashion capitals
Despite its 15-year history, Brazil continues to lag behind fashion giants like Paris, Milan, London and New York. The fact is, the city isn't being taken seriously as a global fashion player.
"Textile engineering has to progress in Brazil. To be more competitive, we need better material and technology in this country," one of the designers taking part, Reinaldo Lourenco said.
Stylist Lorenzo Merlino said: "We're not even close to China, which is selling products with sophisticated fabrics at laughable prices. We're not going to have factories like that any time soon."
Designer Alexandre Herchcovitch bemoaned to the newspaper that "everybody wants to be a stylist, and there's not enough room for so many people."
He also stressed a common refrain that "we have poor qualifications in sewing and design."
Is everyone feeling blue?
While well-heeled, wealthy Brazilians are turning to elite European and US labels for clothes, the country's burgeoning middle class is helping local fashion houses enjoy a consumer boom.
"Twenty or thirty years ago when we talked about fashion, it was without a doubt craziness to think we would be here today," said organizer of SPFW, Paulo Borges. "We always knew it would take a long time."
There is hope yet for Brazil to become a darling for investors everywhere.
Do you think Brazil could become a fashion powerhouse like Paris or New York? Are you familiar with any designers from the country?
