Daniela de Abreu, creator of the Flamboyant project, was named the competition’s Overall Winner and also took first place in the Apparel category, one of four new names launched on the national design scene.
Daniela’s project connects fashion, music and Brazilian cultural identity through references to Brazil’s northeastern backlands, translating these inspirations into a performance fashion piece designed for artistic expression and stage presence.
The competition also recognized Julia Moraes do Nascimento, winner of the Accessories category with the Reflection project; Ana Nascimento, winner of the Footwear category with Alma; and Andeli Alves, selected by the public as the People’s Choice winner with Na Ginga da Roda.
Held in Brazil for the first time, RLSD expands its international platform to new talent and students in fashion and design. The winning proposals draw on references spanning music, memory, Brazilian history, craftsmanship, and cultural identity.
Overall winner of the Brazilian edition, Daniela de Abreu developed Flamboyant, a mini collection of performance fashion inspired by the song Flor de Flamboyant, from the album Dominguinho by singers João Gomes, Mestrinho, and Jota.pê. The project’s central reference emerges as a symbol of intensity, beauty, and emotion.
In the pieces, leather appears in scarlet red, white, and orange, combined with techniques such as laser cutting and embroidery. The proposal also incorporates a sustainable dimension by reusing leather scraps to create floral appliqués, transforming production waste into design elements.
In the Accessories category, the winner was Julia Moraes do Nascimento with the Reflection project. The creation is a versatile hat designed with two sides that allow different ways of wearing and styling it. The proposal explores the possibility of transforming the same piece through different ways of wearing it, bringing versatility and personality to the accessory.
In the Footwear category, Ana Nascimento stood out. She is a first-year Product Design student at Fatec Victor Civita and the second generation of a family of artisans from São Paulo. Her project, ALMA, is born from the meeting of tradition and contemporary design.
In Alma, the student seeks to preserve knowledge passed down through generations and bring it closer to contemporary product design. The use of materials intended for a longer lifespan also reinforces the competition’s aim of combating immediate disposal. The result is a piece that represents the convergence of two generations of artisans.
Josslyn Shi from California College of Art has been crowned Overall Winner of the Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition at a glittering final event held at the U.S. Embassy in London.
The facility, in Nigeria’s largest city, will consist of a tannery, shops and a training facility—it is due to open in December this year.
Think Small is where RLSD takes a look at some of the companies around the world that we think are doing the right thing with leather. This is a greenwashing-free zone – no matter what they produce, sustainability is at the heart of what they do.
The circular economy is a sustainable and innovative economic model that seeks to redefine the traditional linear model of production and consumption. Instead, it promotes a system where resources are used for as long as possible, and then recovered and
Giddy up – Western fashion has gone majorly mainstream for Spring/Summer ’24. Granted, the Western style of dressing is by no means a trend; it’s a utilitarian style that dates back centuries to traditional American cowboy culture, via Native American
