Brazilian Women In The Fashion Industry

6 Pages 1619 Words

In the late twentieth century women’s roles in the Brazilian fashion industry boomed. Many women have worked in the slums of Brazil and sewed clothes for some of the top designers and models. There are also women that work on the business side of the industry. These women own their own businesses, manage, import foreign goods, market, and sell the finished products. Together seamstresses and entrepreneurs in Brazil have made a name in the world of fashion.
Starting in the 1980s seamstresses no longer had to work in the horrible conditions and for the low pay of the sweatshops. In 1981 Maria Theresa Leal opened a cooperative called the Cooparoca in Rocinha, a major slum in Brazil, after seeing how the women there had an interest in fashion (Downie). In the beginning textile companies donated extra cloth and materials to the Cooparoca at the request of Leal and the women began to work. They started out by making covers, cushions, and pompoms and selling them to family and friends. In 1987, the cooperative was registered and received grants from the United Nations Development Program and a government credit line (Downie). Leal provide sewing classes so that other women could begin a career of their own. Leal was now able to buy a nice place for the women to work in, which was very uncommon in these slums. The women work in a very unique environment in a spacious three-story building. Leal made sure the women were comfortable and treated with respect. She wanted the women to be happy at what they were doing.
In 1994, Cooparoca’s designs were shown off at a Rio fashion show for the first time (Downie). The women really didn’t know what they were doing and all of the clothes were messed up. At the time deconstructionist designs were popular. The critics loved the Cooparoca’s designs because they thought they were trying to be deconstructionists. The editors of Vogue and Elle magazine were at Leal’s home the ne...