São Paulo Fashion Week – Part Two

Brazilian designer Pedro Lourenco is one of Paris Fashion Week’s rising stars, but few fashion folk realize that the precocious Paulista is part of a fashion dynasty, the child of two pillars of the Brazilian fashion scene, Reinaldo Lourenco and Gloria Coelho. Looking at his parents’ designs, it’s easy to see where Pedro gets his penchant for futurist structure – both Reinaldo and Gloria are known for their strictly tailored constructions (which owe a big debt to Ghesquiere’s work for Balenciaga). Day two of Sao Paulo Fashion Week opened with a stellar show by Lourenco Sr., who offered up his interpretation of Prada’s famous Schiaparelli-inspired lip print on long, languid silk dresses, along with elaborately beaded evening gowns with mink trim. The contemporary take on 30’s elegance was a big hit with the crowd, which included Tom Ford favorite, Caroline Ribeiro, along with São Paulo’s chicest ladies who don’t eat much at lunch. Later that afternoon, some familiar fashion folk surfaced, including Cecilia Dean and Candy Pratts Price, in town to give a talk at the Museum of Modern Art on fashion and the Internet, and chic French publisher, Martine Assouline, all giving good fashion to the legion of paparazzi documenting their every move.

The day’s next best show came courtesy of flashy designer duo, Rita and Dudu, the talent behind the label Neon, who put on an over-the-top spectacle to rival Jeremy Scott’s campiest triumphs. Surrealist inspiration struck again, and the audience lapped it up, hooting wildly as models worked zany looks like an evening gown covered in lip-shaped pins.

The biggest celebrity event arrived at the end of the day, as Brazilian transsexual and Tisci muse-turned-model Lea T. took to the runway for Alexandre Herchcovitch’s funereal collection for his women’s line. Although the clothes were depressing downers for the most part, Lea’s vulnerable persona was touching. Later that night at Herchcovitch’s afterparty in her honor at the Fasano, it was sweet to see how excited the crowd was to see her.