Issued on: 16/03/2023 -
Brazil's First Lady Rosangela "Janja" da Silva has brought her own style to the presidential palace since her husband, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took office
Sao Paulo (AFP) – Whether sporting a red Workers' Party star on her wedding dress, breaking taboos by wearing pants to her husband's inauguration, or rocking eco-friendly clothing, Brazil's new first lady is turning heads and making statements with her fashion choices.
Rosangela "Janja" da Silva, a 56-year-old sociologist, has noticeably changed her style since being thrust into the spotlight when her husband, veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took office on January 1.
The long-time Workers' Party activist, who married the twice-widowed Lula, 77, last year, has glammed up her previously low-key look.
She has replaced her go-to jeans and sneakers with a wardrobe carefully chosen to champion her favorite causes, including women's rights, Indigenous peoples and the environment -- not to mention Brazilian designers.
"She's made Brazilian fashion one of the elements she uses to construct her public persona as a feminist and progressive who cares about social issues," says Benjamin Rosenthal, a personal marketing specialist at Brazil's Getulio Vargas Foundation.
Da Silva has had the nation hanging on her fashion choices since at least her wedding day last May, when she and Lula paused a grueling presidential campaign to make their five-year relationship official in a glamorous private ceremony in Sao Paulo.
She walked down the aisle in a flowing white dress featuring a tiny red jewel in a star embroidered on the low-cut shoulder -- a wink to the symbol of the Workers' Party which brought them together.
Brazilian shoe designer Juliana Macedo shows a detail of the shoes the first lady wore to Lula's inauguration © Miguel SCHINCARIOL / AFP
She also wore a subtle red star for Lula's inauguration in January -- this time, on the soles of her strappy high heels.
First lady in pants
The first lady -- who dislikes that title, calling it "patriarchal" -- made an even bolder inauguration day statement by wearing pants, the first time a Brazilian president's wife had not worn a dress to the ceremony.
Da Silva opted for a shimmering pearl pantsuit by Brazilian designers Helo Rocha and Camila Pedrosa, the same team that created her wedding dress.
Macedo poses for a photo at her studio in Sao Paulo © Miguel SCHINCARIOL / AFP
"Pants are a symbol of women's emancipation," says Rocha.
"In Brasilia, until about 20 years ago, women couldn't even wear them into Congress," where Lula took the oath of office.
The silk pantsuit was dyed with rhubarb and a classically Brazilian plant, the cashew fruit, and elegantly embroidered with traditional Indigenous designs.
Da Silva has also drawn attention with a blouse stamped with the image of early-20th-century feminist icon Maria Bonita; a blazer embroidered by a women's cooperative; an eco-friendly skirt made of fabric scraps; and outfits made from recycled clothing by Brazilian brand Reptilia.
"She infuses the role of first lady with the practicality of a woman who's not afraid to get her hands dirty," says Reptilia's 36-year-old founder, Heloisa Strobel.
Janja, far left, in the pantsuit she wore to Lula's inauguration © Sergio Lima / AFP
"You'd never expect to see her in a tight dress she can barely walk in."
That is a fairly accurate description of a typical outfit worn by Da Silva's predecessor, Michelle Bolsonaro, the devoutly Evangelical Christian wife of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).
Another contrast: Da Silva has also brought a splash of bright color to the presidential palace, switching up the pastel tones favored by her predecessor.
For example, interest in Reptilia grew in January after "Janja" wore one of their pieces -- a skirt in overlapping bright red hues -- during her and Lula's first official foreign trip, to Argentina.
"I want to take Brazilian designers wherever I go," Da Silva told Vogue magazine in an interview that month.
Not just flip-flops
Entrepreneurs in Brazil's $29.7 billion textile and fashion industry are thrilled to have the support.
Da Silva "wants to show the best design being produced in Brazil, beyond the stereotypical palm tree print," says Strobel.
Airon Martin, founder and designer of Misci, poses for a picture at his store in Sao Paulo
© Miguel SCHINCARIOL / AFP
Airon Martin, creative director of another of Da Silva's favorite local brands, Misci, agrees.
"The world knows Brazil as the land of flip-flops and carnival. But we also have a powerful luxury goods industry, with incredible silks and cottons," says the 31-year-old, who has big plans to take his designs abroad.
"Fashion crystallizes a sociopolitical moment," he adds.
© 2023 AFP
Airon Martin, creative director of another of Da Silva's favorite local brands, Misci, agrees.
"The world knows Brazil as the land of flip-flops and carnival. But we also have a powerful luxury goods industry, with incredible silks and cottons," says the 31-year-old, who has big plans to take his designs abroad.
"Fashion crystallizes a sociopolitical moment," he adds.
© 2023 AFP
Meet Airon Martin, The Creator of Misci, the Brand Worn by Janja, Brazil's First Lady
The designer says he wants to encourage consumers to buy fashion, not just clothes
João Perassolo
SÃO PAULO
The designer says he wants to encourage consumers to buy fashion, not just clothes
João Perassolo
SÃO PAULO
Feb.28.2023
When he was a child, Airon Martin heard his grandmother say that he would only be a real man if he had the term "dr." placed before his name when people addressed him. For her, her grandson should follow a traditional profession. "I tried to be a doctor, I tried to be a lawyer, everything that had a 'dr.' in it, but fashion was stronger", says the creator of Misci, perhaps the most talked about brand in Brazilian fashion today.
When he was a child, Airon Martin heard his grandmother say that he would only be a real man if he had the term "dr." placed before his name when people addressed him. For her, her grandson should follow a traditional profession. "I tried to be a doctor, I tried to be a lawyer, everything that had a 'dr.' in it, but fashion was stronger", says the creator of Misci, perhaps the most talked about brand in Brazilian fashion today.
SÃO PAULO, SP, BRASIL, 20-01-2023: Airon Martin, the creator/designer that dresses the first lady (Foto: Bruno Santos/ Folhapress) - Folhapress
It took two career changes before the 31-year-old designer saw his creations being worn by the first lady, Rosângela da Silva, Janja, and by the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, in television interviews and at official government events, putting his label, until then better known by those into fashion, in the spotlight for the general public.
Martin was raised by his mother and grandmother in a house at the back of a roadside cabaret in Sinop, a city of 150,000 inhabitants in the countryside of Mato Grosso, where he had daily contact with prostitutes. His life story already caused him a lot of shame, he says, but today his unusual past, transferred to Misci's creations, is a great asset of the brand in the market, which Martin says he considers better than any marketing "storytelling".
Another decisive factor in Misci's success, says the stylist, is the quality of the pieces, the well-kept execution, and the finishes, all made using export-level Brazilian raw material. The silk thread used in Janja and Marina Silva's shirts is the same used by Dior and Hermès. The arapaima leather used in some bags comes from the same tannery that supplies Rick Owens. Misci —from "miscegenation"— was his final project for the industrial design course at the Istituto Europeo di Design, in São Paulo. His initial idea was to develop a line of furniture, but then the student ended up switching courses and opted to create the clothing brand, which would be "a study of Brazilian identity".
"Fashion is one thing and clothes are something else. We don't just make clothes — clothes are one of the reflections of the fashion that we present. It's kind of philosophical, but we have to show the consumer that there is a difference. Many people can make clothes, fast fashion does it. Few people make fashion in Brazil. It's about realizing who is making fashion and appreciating that."
Translated by Cassy Dias
It took two career changes before the 31-year-old designer saw his creations being worn by the first lady, Rosângela da Silva, Janja, and by the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, in television interviews and at official government events, putting his label, until then better known by those into fashion, in the spotlight for the general public.
Martin was raised by his mother and grandmother in a house at the back of a roadside cabaret in Sinop, a city of 150,000 inhabitants in the countryside of Mato Grosso, where he had daily contact with prostitutes. His life story already caused him a lot of shame, he says, but today his unusual past, transferred to Misci's creations, is a great asset of the brand in the market, which Martin says he considers better than any marketing "storytelling".
Another decisive factor in Misci's success, says the stylist, is the quality of the pieces, the well-kept execution, and the finishes, all made using export-level Brazilian raw material. The silk thread used in Janja and Marina Silva's shirts is the same used by Dior and Hermès. The arapaima leather used in some bags comes from the same tannery that supplies Rick Owens. Misci —from "miscegenation"— was his final project for the industrial design course at the Istituto Europeo di Design, in São Paulo. His initial idea was to develop a line of furniture, but then the student ended up switching courses and opted to create the clothing brand, which would be "a study of Brazilian identity".
"Fashion is one thing and clothes are something else. We don't just make clothes — clothes are one of the reflections of the fashion that we present. It's kind of philosophical, but we have to show the consumer that there is a difference. Many people can make clothes, fast fashion does it. Few people make fashion in Brazil. It's about realizing who is making fashion and appreciating that."
Translated by Cassy Dias
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