Afro-diasporic fashion took centre stage at the launch of Rio Fashion Week. After more than a decade without a week dedicated to the sector, Rio de Janeiro once again hosted this important calendar event, bringing together five days of shows between 14-18 April.

Cape Verdean designer Angela Brito, who has lived in Brazil for over thirty years, presented ‘Entropia’. The collection proposed her own interpretation of the city, articulating geography and urbanity in creations that explore new possibilities of design — displaced and with greater exposure of the body. “The collection incorporates this landscape in a palette that ranges from greys, browns and blues, between stone, earth, water, and asphalt, interspersed with touches of purple, butter yellow and green, reflecting a fertile territory where vegetation emerges in the most unexpected places,” Brito said.

Meanwhile, Apartamento 03, Luiz Claudio Silva's stalwart brand, put forward a collection inspired by Brazilian literature to reflect on the capacity for female reinvention. In a show rich in poetic details, references to Macabéa emerged, a character who takes on a life of her own in the narrative written by Conceição Evaristo. This influence was reflected in prints of red lipstick, multiple versions of nightgowns, and bags full of books. “Aesthetically, the collection reaffirms codes already characteristic of Apartamento 03, such as the continuous investigation of tailoring and the obsession with pleats, now revisited under a more intimate gaze,” Silva commented.

Finally, under the creative direction of Rafaela Pinah – founder of Coolhunter Favela and Nataal collaborator – Adidas came forward as the only international brand present in the RioFW line-up. The strong proposal celebrated the aesthetic power of street culture, incorporating elements of football — one of Brazil’s greatest national passions. “The process of creating the fashion show respected the designs and pieces that marked an era already present in the collective imagination,” explains Pinah. “At the same time, we brought in many national references and symbolic elements of Brazilian peripheral culture.”