‘It’s always going to be summer somewhere in the world,” Juliana Affonso Ferreira says optimistically. What the blonde half of the Brazilian fashion brand Isolda means is that there will always be a place and time for those who want to be dressed in her brand’s tropic-appropriate, flowery numbers. Along with childhood friend and co-founder Maya Pop, both of whom were in ravishing dresses with exotic flowers, Ferreira was in Bangkok for the first time last week to visit the Isolda corner at the Beige multi-label store in Siam Paragon.
Collections from the past.
What started out as girlie weekends of making clothes and getting friends to model them in London eventually turned into Isolda, when people beyond friends and family wanted to wear their clothes too.
“It’s crazy because we started and it became a social media phenomenon,” recalls Pop. “It was the very beginning of Instagram and street style photography so the bloggers wanted to wear something very vibrant and eye-catching for street style pictures. Suddenly all the bloggers were wearing Isolda. Social media spread it to the whole world and people wondered what this brand was.”
From its first collection with Beige Group, Isolda has been available at expected fashion hot spots like the UK and the US, as well as Bangkok and smaller, but no less fashion-forward (and money-abundant) places like Kuwait City.
Ever since the founding of Isolda in 2012, the friends, who are from the same neighbourhood in Salvador, have drawn their main inspiration from Brazil. From the rainforests in the south, the northern parts, where people actually wear fur and leather, to the hot and rainy northeast, the vast country is tremendously different. Its people too are a diverse bunch, with ancestries that can be traced to Spain, Portugal, Italy, Britain and even Japan. Pop herself is half Japanese, noting that the biggest Japanese community outside of Japan is in San Paolo. Ferreira, who is half British, exclaims: “All of the world goes to Brazil and then becomes Brazilian!”
Their home country is, indeed, one big crazy pot of everything, and offers a plethora of materials that are captured on the maxi-dresses, jumpsuits and resort-wear that the brand creates. The first collection featured a splash of Brazilian jaguars, toucans and macaws, while the silhouettes currently in store now draw from dresses that Portuguese princesses from the empire wore back in the day. It obviously stood out for its loud prints, which were usually decked with bright colours and tropical fruits and flowers, but the fact that it operates on a higher-end level has been applauded by sharper shoppers. That it also fully embraced its national identity was also a draw to others who, like them, were homesick for Brazil, both those in and outside the country.
“Mainly, brands [in Brazil] look to what people are doing outside, so they look more European. We did the inverse because we started in London, but we were looking back to Brazil. We’re really proud of the Brazilian culture and wanted to lift it up to show to the world,” says Pop.
Unlike other colourful Brazilian-esque wear that comes to mind, Isolda is unique in the sense that all prints are made from watercolour or cut-outs on natural fabrics such as silk or linen.
“It’s not like we just go, ‘Oh let’s do flower prints’,” explains Ferreira. “We do research about something in our culture, a story or artist, and we develop a collection based on that. People in Brazil don’t really care that clothes others do are in polyester, synthetics or textiles that don’t breathe. It’s something you wear once and throw away, but Isolda is made to last — it’d be really nice if you can give your daughter your Isolda piece like a vintage. We really appreciate having something of good quality and I think in Brazil it’s not always about that.”
It’s not just a parade of prints and an endless summer for the brand, as they are currently working on more solid-coloured pieces and printed overcoats. They’re also developing 3D prints, such as lace made into the shape of orchids, but on getting your “print game” right, Pop advises: “I think it’s nice when you get a colour from a print and carry it on another piece in the same colour tone. Or you can wear something solid on top and a printed bottom so it’s not a full printed look.”
Glancing at a customer nearby in their skirt with the graphic pattern of Portuguese tiles under watercolour limes, she adds that mixing graphics and prints is their way to break from the full-on tropical garden. Nevertheless, prints will always be the heart of the brand, with pome and petals as the main artery to represent Brazil. “We like to think that fruits are like flowers as well because they’re also beautiful. Thailand has many beautiful fruits too,” comments Pop, who spoke of the tropical similarity between Thailand and Brazil. For Ferreira, it’s a sometimes overlooked fruit native to her country that she particularly likes.
“You know, the cashew fruit is where the cashew nut comes from. Not many people know that. It’s this really beautiful fruit that’s also in our logo and a current motif that appears in each collection in some way — like in a button or some detail.”
Pop adds: “Teaching people about Brazilian culture through our clothes is exactly what we try to show and do. That’s our way to communicate with the rest of the world.”
Other new brands on the block
Ivy Park
Thai beyhives can now be decked out in their leader’s new active wear line Ivy Park. Here, Beyoncé has partnered up to create a stand-alone brand with UK’s largest fashion retailer Arcadia Group — the same giant that owns global names such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins. You can now live in your workout clothes outside the gym too with this line of technical sportswear and casualwear dominated by large, bold print that lets the world know you’re B’s fan. The core of the brand are signature pieces that are almost like second skins — fitted tank tops with inbuilt bras, seamless knits and three different types of legging shapes for every body type. Exclusively available on Zalora.
Petit Bateau
This brand, which is highly regarded as part of French heritage, means “little boat” in French. Now available in Bangkok department stores in Paragon, Emporium and Central Chidlom, children can have their pick of stripy numbers that are made to last. Younger siblings need not pout at getting a Petit Bateau hand-me-down, because with every wash, each garment won’t lose its shape and the cotton gets even softer.
Brooks Brothers
This American authority of fancy pants (suits, shirts and shoes too) is now ready to officially launch their flagship at Gaysorn. Since their beginnings in 1818, this classic luxury clothier has become the very first long-standing aspirational brand stylish Americans look to when in need of something smart and preppy. Known for both their custom and ready-made suits, Brooks Brothers has dressed iconic state figures from Lincoln to Obama — sadly it was actually a coat from the brand the former wore on the day he was assassinated. The majority of the selection will be on the men’s side, but there will be a small corner for women too at the flagship store.
Isolda spring summer 2016.
Collections from the past.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.