JULIA VALLE
Selected by: Rosane Ribeiro, Vogue Brasil, and Roberta Damasceno, Owner of Dona Coisa
Julia Valle is arguably one of Brazil’s hardest working young designers. Before being invited to join the line-up at Rio Moda Hype, a showcase for young talent at Fashion Rio, for Autumn/Winter 09, Ms. Valle could already boast stints at established Brazilian brands Redley, Faven and Printing.
“Brazilians have a special way of dealing with their bodies’ sense of beauty and sensuality,” says Ms Valle. “But [fashion] is still a very young industry [here] with our fashion schools dating back only 20 years. We have absurdly high taxes so our prices are not competitive and we don’t get incentives from the government.”
Still, her Autumn/Winter 2011 collection of pared-down, elegant pieces invites comparisons with Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo for Céline, said Vogue Brasil’s Ms Ribeiro: “Julia carries that effortless chic and deconstructed silhouette [in her collections].” Roberta Damasceno, owner of Rio’s iconic multi-brand store Dona Coisa is also a fan. “Julia is young, modern and would fit in very well with the Dona Coisa brand mix,” which includes successful Brazilian labels Sônia Pinto and Reinaldo Lourenço.
