Brazilian culture through Ronaldo Fraga's fashion

Contemporary Brazilian fashion icon Ronaldo Fraga reveals the source of his inspiration and the history behind his collections

Designer Ronaldo Fraga is known for creating collections and catwalk shows that fuse Brazilian identity with the contemporary world, and that bring literature, theater, music and local traditions onto runways all over the world.

Brazil is present in almost all of his over 60 collections. As someone from Brazil, the greatest influence on his work is looking at things from a mixed race perspective. It’s the gaze of a nation built on the fusion of numerous cultures. “We’re diverse, colorful, exciting and emotional,” he says.

Discover the history behind some of this Brazilian fashion icon’s collections in the video.

Turista Aprendiz na Terra do Grão Pará

This collection speaks of the power of nature and of humankind. The designer looked to one of the Amazon’s most deforested regions for inspiration. Bio-jewels, made out of waste wood and seeds from this region are one of the collection’s stand-out elements.

Río São

The designer traveled the entire length of the San Francisco river, from its source in the Canastra mountain range to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean, making its strength and diversity fashionable in his Río São collection.

Terra de Gigantes

This collection represents one of the most culturally rich regions of Brazil’s northeast. Ronaldo Fraga developed a collection full of local embroidery and knowledge inspired by the sounds, colors and mastery of the region’s artisans.

Costela de Adão

Designed in 2003, this collection promotes the culture of pottery from the valley of Jequitinhonha. Here, women learn to work with clay when they are still young girls, mostly by creating clay dolls dressed in bridalwear. Ronaldo recreated the beauty of these dolls for the catwalk in this collection.

Seedlings

In Brazilian Portuguese, the word “mute” is related to relocation, silence and plants. “As Mudas (the mute women) reveals the designer’s role: to look and find poetry in arid ground, and to create bridges” notes Ronaldo.

This collection was developed in collaboration with a dressmakers’ cooperative in the Barra Longa region of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Mariana dam in 2015. These women saw their houses and gardens swept away by the mud. So as a way to stimulate economic renewal and to restore their self-esteem, Ronaldo invited the women to embroider their memories of flowering plants so that their gardens could be reborn through the clothes in this collection.

Ronaldo believes that our world of fashion and consumption shouldn’t really exist, especially given the environmental pollution caused by garment factories. However he emphasizes that “by choosing what to wear, and the desire in that choice, you reveal the extraordinary in ordinary lives. Which is fascinating.”

Love this tutorial? If you want to learn how to create an inspiring story through fashion design, don’t miss Ronaldo Fraga’s online course: Fashion Sketchbook: Find Your Creative Voice.

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