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Muddy Couture - Label takes fashionistas to the subhuman world of the river Tiete

Words by Nathalia Pires / pictures by Marcio Madeira

There was no sound track or DJ to give that “catwalk feel”. Just a siren to signal the beginning and the end of the event (which sounded more like an air-raid siren). The cars and trucks constantly traversing the Marginal TietĂȘ were the only backdrop, and instead of the catwalks of SĂŁo Paulo
Fashion Week, the focus was on the banks of one of the world’s most polluted rivers. As well as the sombre-looking models, there was also all the rubbish washed up by the rains over the past few days. It was because of all this that Cavalera decided to take the fashion world down to the River TietĂȘ.

On the 20th January, the label took around 200 special guests – duly armed with rain macs and surgical masks because of the stench – to watch the catwalk show on the banks of the river. The aim was not only to showcase the brand’s Autumn/Winter collection, but also to raise a debate about
the situation of the TietĂȘ.

São Paulo Fashion Week is the largest event of its kind in Latin America. Every six months, the Biennale building – situated in Ibirapuera Park (see Destination, page 42) – is invaded by designers, models, gatecrashers and journalists from around the world.

Designer Marcelo Sommer also decided to stick to his environmental beliefs in relation to his clothes: many were from past collections used in a number of different ways. By doing this, he also intends to take a stand against throw-away fashion and alert the public about the importance of recycling. At
the end of the show, the guests were satisfi ed with the initiative, the organizers felt that they’d accomplished what they’d set out to do and started collecting a lot of muddy clothes. The river, which fl ows for almost 1,100km through the State of São Paulo, was a leisure area for Paulistas up until the 1930s. From the ‘30s onwards, however, the river began to be used as an industrial and urban sewer.

Although some tributaries are extremely polluted, there are other stretches of water (outside the city of São Paulo) that have remained relatively unscathed. This goes to show that, despite the fact that the stretch of the river in the city has been extremely compromised by pollution, there’s still some
hope that the river might be recuperated and there’s a promising outlook for its re-use at some point in the future.

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