PEDRO LOURENÇO
Selected by: Roberta Damasceno, Owner of Dona Coisa, and Rubens Gomes, Co-Founder of Choix

If there is one Brazilian fashion designer at the head of the emerging designers pack, it’s Pedro Lourenço. Whilst his peers are still making a name for themselves at São Paulo Fashion Week and Fashion Rio, Mr Lourenço has gone one step further: he made his debut at Paris Fashion Week in March 2010 in what was arguably the most commercial and successful event on the catwalk calendar.

Still only 20 years old, Mr Lourenço is the Brazilian designer most likely to achieve international success, having been praised by influential publications including the Daily Telegraph and Style.com. Indeed, his architectural collections have drawn comparisons with Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquière.

Choix’s Mr. Gomes, who stocks the designer’s collections, also named Lourenço as a designer-to-watch, while Dona Coisa’s Ms. Damasceno, singled him out as the Brazilian designer most likely to make his name on the global stage. “Pedro Lourenço has been demonstrating his talent since a young age and has always lived in a universe of creativity and production,” said Ms. Damasceno. To hit the big time, all he needs now is to add more commerciality to his designs.

Ana Santi is a writer based in London and maintains the blog Born in Brazil