Dear BoF Community,
The locus of fashion is shifting away from a singular focus on Western fashion capitals to seize on the palpable optimism, creative energy and economic growth of the Global South, a vast region covering the Middle East, Central and South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. These regions contain some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with young digitally-enabled populations and a hunger to be seen and credited for their creativity — not just their consumption.
As the Kazakhstani educator, artist, entrepreneur Aika Alemi said so powerfully in her talk at BoF CROSSROADS in Dubai last month, “we’re not just a raw material appendix. We want to be the author of ideas, author of design and art.”
One of the key questions that arose at BoF CROSSROADS was how global brands can find ways of engaging with global cultures in an authentic way, without appropriation. Indeed, in conversations with fashion leaders in India, the Middle East and Brazil, they all underscored that locals are keen for their cultures to be embraced globally, but this requires a nuanced understanding and respect for what they bring to the table.
I was debating this very topic with Alexia Niedzielski a few weeks earlier at the Alexander McQueen dinner during Paris Fashion Week. She told me about Sunbelt, her new creative studio and collective focused on working with global brands to amplify the creativity and culture of countries in the Global South, to tell stories that “feel lived, not staged — working at the intersection of fashion, culture, and identity.”
This kind of description can sound a bit highfalutin and theoretical, until you experience it in real life. On a recent trip to Rio de Janeiro, Alexia invited me to Rocinha, the city’s largest, most well known favela, one of the low-income urban communities in peripheral neighbourhoods of Brazil’s big cities, where she was staging a creative shoot for the French fashion brand Rabanne.
But this was not my first time in Rocinha. Late one night many years ago on another trip to Rio, I was escorted there by some local community members who were keen for us to experience their culture and music at a Baile Funk party.
Baile Funk (or Funk Carioca) is a local Brazilian music genre that emerged from the favelas of Rio in the 1970s. Its raw, bass-heavy, and syncopated staccato style percussion was influenced by Miami Bass in the 1980s, and is now one of the most culturally and politically significant forms of contemporary Brazilian music. Funk music has become an important medium for marginalised communities and favela youth to express their identities in a society that often ignores or criminalises them, addressing topics like police violence, drug trafficking, love, sexuality and the desire for upward mobility.
My night in Rocinha was long before we used smartphones to document everything everywhere, but I’ll never forget the electricity and vibe of what I experienced that night, dancing amid the glistening bodies grinding to the sounds of Rio’s famous funk music until the wee hours.
The Rabanne shoot had the same vibe, just with a high-fashion twist. Rabanne’s sparkly clothes and signature chainmail and paillettes moved to the sounds of the funk music and the energy of the more than 70 dancers, deejays and local community members hired to be part of the shoot, which was directed by Emmanuel Cossu and photographed by Melissa de Oliveira, a visual artist from Morro do Dendê, in the north zone of Rio de Janeiro.
Watching it all come together in real-time, it seemed to be the perfect blend of Brazilian street culture and high-fashion. The energy was infectious, but I wondered how it would be received in Brazil.
The campaign, called Atlantic Allusions, was finally released earlier this week. The feedback on Rabanne’s Instagram page has been largely positive, receiving more than 4,000 comments and 6,000 shares. By collaborating directly with local artists and community members, Rabanne avoided stereotypical portrayals and highlighted the rich cultural tapestry of Rocinha. The inclusion of real residents and the focus on everyday life and funk music was seen as an effort to celebrate and elevate the community’s culture.
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Instagram user Juliipreta commented: “Funk, the favela, the racialised body — all of this, which many people in Brazil still marginalise, becomes an aesthetic reference abroad. Brazil isn’t following trends, it is the trend!!!! When a global brand chooses this setting, this language, this sound… it’s not by chance. It’s because the world has already understood what many people here still haven’t seen.”
But there has also been some criticism questioning the tangible benefits for the Rocinha community and the use of a high-fashion platform to depict a community facing socio-economic challenges.
Fernando_fernandez365 responded: ”Aesthetic reference? Using favela bodies as hangers. Knowing that they could never afford to wear those clothes outside the video? The people who buy those clothes don’t live in favelas. Inclusion or exclusion?”
These are exactly the kind of conversations we should be having as fashion expands its cultural inspiration beyond the West. As Khalid Al-Tayer pointed out in his concluding talk at BoF CROSSROADS, making clear how much countries like India, Thailand and Brazil have in common, despite their cultural differences, “we are moving away from a unipolar definition of fashion and luxury into a multipolar definition of fashion and luxury. The Global South demands and should earn a bigger share of voice in the world.”
Exactly how that voice is shaped and shared is an important consideration for where we go next.
For anyone interested in these kinds of topics at the intersection of fashion and global culture, we are in the early stages of planning next year’s BoF CROSSROADS gathering and would love to hear from you. You can contact [email protected] about speaking opportunities and our brand partnerships team about sponsorship opportunities and suggestions on where to host the second edition of our special gathering next year.
Imran Amed, Founder and Editor-in-Chief
P.S. Earlier this week we announced that Hailey Bieber and Tracee Ellis Ross will headline The Business of Beauty Global Forum on June 9-10 in Napa Valley, California. Join us for the global livestream as we gather the leaders shaping the global beauty and wellness industry.
1. The Logic Behind Balenciaga’s Pierpaolo Piccioli Appointment. Kering has named the former Valentino designer known for his deft use of colour and sculptural couture to succeed Demna in an apparent reset at the Paris-based brand.
2. The End of the Lipstick Index. After years of double-digit growth and a perception of being impervious to wider economic downturns, the beauty industry is finding that cash-strapped customers aren’t interested in ‘little luxuries.’
3. A Slap on the Wrist Won’t Solve Luxury’s Sweatshops Problem. This week, Italy’s Competition Authority closed a probe into whether Dior misled consumers about working conditions at its suppliers without finding any wrongdoing. But a new case linking Valentino to poor labour practices suggests this is a problem that won’t go away easily.
4. Chanel Pulls Back on Price Hikes as Sales Fall 4%. The French couture and beauty giant is easing off punchy price increases and investing in new markets including India, Mexico and Canada. In interviews, chief executive officer Leena Nair and chief financial officer Philippe Blondiaux told BoF the luxury market remains ‘challenging’ as Chanel prepares to revamp its fashion image under new artistic director Matthieu Blazy.
5. Fashion’s World-Builder-in-Chief. Niklas Bildstein Zaar’s knack for designing immersive experiences has made him a go-to collaborator for the likes of Demna, Haider Ackermann, Anne Imhof and Travis Scott.
This week on The BoF Podcast, we have something a little different: instead of my usual place in the host’s seat, I had the pleasure of being a guest for an interview with Jonathan Wingfield, Editor-in-Chief of System Magazine, alongside Luca Solca, Senior Research Analyst at Bernstein – as featured in the debut issue of System Collections, out this week.
Together, we explore how major shifts are impacting the global luxury market, the growing fatigue with high prices and mass production, and why creativity, innovation, and strategic alignment between business and creative leadership are more crucial than ever.
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