BRAZIL: Brazilian prostitutes hold annual fashion show in the street to coincide with the prestigious Rio Fashion week.

Record ID: 197931

  • Title: BRAZIL: Brazilian prostitutes hold annual fashion show in the street to coincide with the prestigious Rio Fashion week.
  • Date: 26th January 2007
  • Summary: (L!1) RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (JANUARY 19, 2007) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN THE STREET WAITING FOR EVENT/ STTING AT TABLES DRINKING
  • Embargoed: 10th February 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Fashion,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA66BYR2BI7FHXFJQM6ZKOKD26J
  • Story Text: Prostitutes compete with the up-scale fashion week 'Fashion Rio' by displaying their own fashion line on a runway in Rio's red-light district. This is the second year that sex workers from the NGO Davida have showcased their own fashion line to promote social integration.

    As the wealthy flocked to a waterfront convention centre for Rio de Janeiro's up-scale bi-annual fashion show, prostitutes took over a downtown square and and took to their own catwalk on Friday (January 19).
    The prostitutes weren't hawking themselves, they were strutting their stuff to exhibit their own fashion line.
    For the second year running, sex service workers from Davida - a non-governmental organization that defends the rights of prostitutes - strutted through the streets simultaneous with the cross-town appearance of top models like Gisele Bundchen.
    The line's brand name, Daspu, is a play on "Daslu", one of Brazil's most expensive and exclusive fashion names.
    Gabriela Leite, one of the founders of Daspu, said the prostitutes had been shunned by the organizers of Fashion Rio.
    "This fashion show today makes up part of our Fall/ Winter collection that is not in the official agenda of Fashion Rio because we were never invited. And once again social responsibility does not appear where it should appear," Leite said before Friday's show.
    One observer, Raquel Balaceano, said the groups like Davida are important in the struggle for social integration.
    "This social inclusion that Davida can provide for the people must continue more and more," Balaceano said.
    According to event organizers, the new 2007 Fall/Winter line -- named Puta Arte - draws from a time honoured tradition: art inspired by prostitutes. From Toulouse Lautrec and Pablo Picasso to Madonna and Sting, artists from all generations and genres have drawn from prostitutes for inspiration and material.
    Hired models and prostitutes walked a makeshift catwalk in an alleyway in Rio's downtown red-light district, throwing condoms to an animated crowd of hundreds while modelling the clothing.
    There was none of the extravagance of fashion for fashion's sake, but rather Spartan and utilitarian shirts with black and white blocks and colourful prints and plenty of eye-catching incarnations of the staple of the industry: the mini-skirt.
    Although Fashion Rio has gained prestige in the fashion world in the past two years, the deaths of three models from anorexia in the last month in the country have people worried about the message ultra-thin models send.
    Nothing of the shadow of the anorexia deaths hung over the Davida show, as exuberant models of all shapes and sizes bounced along the runway, dancing and mugging for a large group of photographers.
    According to one young local, the fashion on display is true to the spirit of Rio.
    "It's real fashion, real Rio fashion. People dress freely and it flows naturally," the observer said.
    The show also ended in the true spirit of Rio with a Carnival drum troupe hammering out samba beats and the audience dancing with the models.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register