Interview for the magazine of BRICS+ Fashion Summit and Moscow Fashion Week 2024

1. What is the most important thing to consider when creating a successful brand? What is your checklist for launching, building, and growing a brand?

   
   

I am very practical when creating a brand or rebranding: 1) prefer a short name, like a nickname; 2) check if the brand name URL is available on websites like GoDaddy or NameCheap; 3) use one to two fonts; 4) prefer black and white contrast; 5) although the brand can have several values and characteristics, try to focus on communicating well just one or a few of them. Finally, growing a brand depends on 6) creating collaborations with other brands, sharing values in common; and 7) investing in digital brand awareness, even though the results do not come in the first months.

2. What are the most effective approaches in fashion education today? What areas of common interest can you see between education and business now?

   
   

Fashion education has changed dramatically since the 1980s, when it was focused on the product and the designers’ language. Almost half a century later, we still see the focus on product development and the star designer. Still, it has amplified the stimulation of fashion students to develop their own design process. In addition, we see an emphasis on fashion strategy (integration of the product with service, and marketing), on the creation of immaterial designs (with the support of augmented reality, artificial intelligence, web design, game design, etc.), and on how fashion can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (i.e. circular economy, degrowth, etc.). All approaches are relevant for an industry in which the level of technology in manufacturing has achieved a certain plateau (i.e. 3D software for zero waste modeling, laser cutting, sewing with ultrasound, etc., still very much based on the “medieval” handmade stitching and embroidery techniques). Among all approaches, only the ethical and sustainable fashion approach has been shaped by new rules and regulations, particularly in Europe.

3. To what extent should the cultural code be studied and analysed within the curriculum to allow for it to be translated and transformed into a modern form?

   
   

Considering only two types of innovation – redesign, which looks at the past, and disruptive/breakthrough, which looks at the future – applied to a cultural code, we often see designers redesigning popular codes, translating them into a contemporary form. On the other hand, a disruptive innovation to suggest a completely different code, that still can be related to a certain culture, is rare to see. In this sense, young designers are still being taught at the university to design based on historical elements and ornaments, like flags and traditional embroidery, but not to embrace their creative wilderness and, therefore, to develop their own codes and their language. In the end, what is a design that belongs to a certain culture? One that is made by a designer from that culture, and/or that is created and produced in the locality where that culture is based.

4. What should you focus on when searching for the right balance between uniqueness and technology, between global trends and local sensibilities?

   
   

We should focus on the balanced level of complexity of the resulting hybrid design language. In other words, for example, the right balance between uniqueness and technology can be measured by how much handmade can be applied to mass production, still making the product viable and commercial. As for the right balance of global trends and local sensibilities, it can be tricky in the scope of ethical fashion. On the one hand, we can see local embroideries being copied and mass-produced by international luxury brands (ie. Romanian ornaments x Louis Vuitton), excluding the local artisans of the supply chain. On the other hand, a global trend can be adapted to the idiosyncrasies of the locality, so the designer translates international codes into his/her unique language, normally resulting in a rich connection between local and global.

5. What are the main trends in fashion education today?

   
   

In general, education went too digital, with the students using their notebooks and phones during class, but we recently realized that so much technology associated with the learning process has resulted in a lack of attention and an increase in anxiety. Examples: some schools and universities in Scandinavia are returning to books, and some schools in Brazil are prohibiting the use of smartphones. So, the return to analogical learning processes is the default. Focusing on fashion education, I would highlight two economies that are shaping how we make fashion: circular and digital. Many projects at the university request that the students include textile waste in product development, as well as stimulate them to express their designs in more digital formats, integrating apps and “phygital” solutions to experience the product. Thus, there is some tension on how to learn with fewer screens, while at the same time, you have to design for the digital economy. We have a generation of young fashion designers facing a digital dilemma, and they are discovering for themselves what is the right balance of digital learning and digital design.  

6. What will you be talking about in your presentation? Could you summarize its main ideas for us?

   
   

For the BRICS+ Fashion Summit, I will be talking about “Fashion Technologies for Climate Change after 2030”. We have three scenarios to work during the challenging times of climate change: mitigation, adaptation, and dealing with suffering. This talk will focus on adaptation to extreme temperatures in urban areas, considering trends such as stepping on "volcano-streets" to "becoming nocturnal". What are the newest fashion technologies that can help us to survive? What can we learn from textile engineering innovations? Finally, what can we imagine for fashion, based on other industries' innovations on climate change? These are some of the questions I promise to answer. 

For the Moscow Fashion Week, I will be talking in the panel on “The art of futurism. How will people of the future dress”, focusing on the worst scenarios for climate change, when temperatures will reach +8°C. In addition, I will join the panel on "The fashion cycle. From creation to resale”. I will share some insights and results of my double-degree PhD research in Brazil and The Netherlands, studying fashion value chains in the Amazon rainforest.

7. How do you assess the importance of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit as a communication platform for developing countries?

   
   

BRICS+ Fashion Summit fills a gap in the international fashion agenda, converging business with education and attracting audiences that are normally active in their own continent. In this sense, the event is a great opportunity to be part of a dynamic, inclusive, and plural fashion world. Thus, from the cross-fertilization of different expertise and interests, we can create more opportunities to collaborate with more faces and places.

8. How essential is it for countries with rapidly developing economies to collaborate in the fashion sector and expand their influence?

   
   

I believe that the fashion industry of a developing economy should lead by the example of responsible growth, attending the international rules and regulations to keep carbon neutral and reduce the environmental impact of its products and processes. Since this assignment is challenging, we need to engage with our peers to learn from their experiences and see how we can apply the knowledge gained - by socialization in events like BRICS+ Fashion Summit - in the reality of the fashion industry in our countries.