WHAT: For his first show outside of Sao Paulo,
Lourenço sent out sharp, futuristic dresses, coats and pants made out
of panels of leather, plastic, and grey double-faced wool felt. Leather
and plastic strips sewn into beaded, venetian blind-like grids added
extra dimension to many of the pieces. “I’m lucky that my parents have
really good factories, but still, I was pushing, pushing, pushing the
seamstresses on some of these techniques,” Lourenço says.
BONA FIDES: Lourenço took to sewing when he was
still a toddler, and since the onset of adolescence, intermittently
handled his mother’s diffusion line, Carlota Joakina. His parents swear
up and down they never pushed him into his field. “In fact, we couldn’t
have stopped him if we tried,” says Coelho. More recently, Lourenço
spent a month working for Giambattista Valli in Paris.
HQ: Sao Paulo, with some operations being handled out of Paris.
INSPIRATIONS: “Diana the huntress, and also the
architect Oscar Niemeyer,” says the designer. Familiarity breeds
respect: Lourenço has spent much of his young life among Niemeyer’s
stunning complex of buildings his hometown’s Parque Ibirapuera, where
Sao Paulo Fashion Week is held.
POSSE: Lourenço’s front row was packed with all the
fashion business bigs. Longtime supporters include Vanity Fair’s
Michael Roberts, the Brazilian designer Alexandre Herchcovitch, stylist
Brana Wolf (who worked on Lourenço’s show this season) and jewelry
designer and style icon Judy Blame.
