Antônio Castro’s latest collection for Foz blends history and artistry, honoring the untold story of his great-aunt Laura and the resilience of Brazilian women.
How many stories led by women have been erased throughout the years?
Laura’s won’t be one of them.
Through a poetic, whimsical, and beautifully pure collection, Antônio Castro, the creative director of Foz, tells the story of his great-aunt Laura, who fled an abusive relationship and joined the cangaço in search of freedom. This all took place in the 1930s. After leaving her family and escaping a violent situation, what happens to Laura? This is the question the Alagoas-born designer seeks to answer, imagining possibilities for the continuation of her story.
Alagoas embroidery helps weave this narrative through various artisanal techniques: renda filé, lace, bobbin lace, redendê, waxed rope knitting, and fuxico. Earthy tones and lightweight fabrics, which move softly as the models walk, create the setting in the audience’s imagination. Toward the end, darker pieces contrast with the looks from the first section, symbolizing a new chapter in the designer’s life, as he now resides in São Paulo.
In the final moment, actress Nataly Rocha, who spent the show lying on a carved wooden bed, rises, revealing a long white dress with a train, suggesting that the protagonist of the story has awoken.
Among dresses adorned with over 5,000 mother-of-pearl buttons, pieces made from a letter, and prints developed by artists Cleyton Almeida and Silde Capela, Foz reinvents itself with a mystical yet powerful universe, just like Laura.