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subscribe to style file blog via RSSBlasblog From Rio: Francisco’s Brazilian Sojourn Sadly At End
November 6, 2008 12:37 pm
It wasn’t too shocking to bump into Francisco Costa [seen here between Carlos Mota and Justin Portman] on the Fasano Hotel rooftop last night—he is Brazilian, after all. Still, the launch party for a fashion week devoted to swimwear wasn’t the first place I’d think to find the Calvin Klein designer. Turns out he was here for pleasure, not business. First, this past week in São Paolo, he was the first-ever winner of the Prêmio Moda Brasil womenswear award. (A friend of the designer called it the South American equivalent of a CFDA award, of which Costa has one too, natch). “That was a big honor for me,” Costa said. “My whole family came: my sister, my niece and my three brothers. It was a very big moment of pride.” After some more family time at the Costa compound nestled in the countryside a four-hour flight from Rio, the designer came here for the intimate concert by Caetano Veloso, whom Costa explained, is “like an icon down here.” As Veloso performed poolside, both with guitar and a cappella, Costa explained of the Oscar-nominated, activist musician who founded the Tropicalismo style, “He’s like the Bob Dylan of Brazil, one of the best songwriters ever.” (I wish I could say I agree with him, but my Romance languages are a bit rusty.) Sadly, this was Costa’s Brazilian swan song, as the designer is headed back to New York today. “I wish I could stay,” Costa said. “But it’s not like fall and pre-fall are going to design themselves.”
tags: Carlos Mota, Francisco Costa, Justin Portman, Rio de Janeiro
